**7. A history of prodrome: benefits of diagnosis of the prodrome**

Over 100 years ago, Emil Kraepelin (1896), cited by Patrick McGorry at the beginning of the chapter "A stitch in time" [14], wrote "it is of the greatest medical importance to diagnose cases of dementia praecox certainly and at an early stage" (Kraepelin, 1896/1987, p. 23).

In 1908, Eugen Bleuler, cited by Patrick McGorry in the same book [14], wrote "the sooner the patients can be recovered and the less they are allowed to withdraw in their own world, the sooner they become socially functional" (Bleuler, 1908/1987, p. 63).

Coming from 1927 [15], we find the same idea "I feel certain that many incipient cases might be arrested before the efficient contact with reality is completely suspended, and a long stay in institutions made necessary" ([15], p. 135). Meares in 1950 wrote "it is not necessary to diagnose early schizophrenia but to diagnose prepsychotic schizophrenia ,to prevent damage".

These statements can be used not only as the foundation stones for any therapeutic intervention but also as arguments to emphasize the importance of early phases of psychosis.
