A study suggests talking therapy can reduce the risk of psychosis.

Research by the University of Southampton found that small changes to cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) could make a difference for patients at risk of psychosis.

CBT is offered to 1.2 million NHS patients with anxiety and depression annually.

According to the research, including a few extra questions at the beginning of CBT sessions allows clinicians to identify individuals at risk of psychosis.

Professor Katherine Newman-Taylor, consultant clinical psychologist and CBT lead at the University of Southampton, said: "Many people who access NHS Talking Therapies services for anxiety and depression have low-level psychotic-type experiences, but they don’t report these and clinicians are not trained to identify them, so they go unnoticed.

"We have found that when they go unnoticed, people are unlikely to recover.

"Our research shows that slightly tweaking CBT enables clinicians to pick up on early psychotic-type experiences."

Psychosis, which affects about one in 100 people, typically goes untreated for one to two years due to a lack of initial recognition, stigma and mental health service delays.

Symptoms include hallucinations, unusual beliefs and paranoia.

Professor Newman-Taylor said: "Some people might have psychotic-type experiences that are not particularly troublesome.

"For others, these experiences can be troubling, but the associated stigma means they can feel too ashamed or afraid to ask for help.

"Established psychosis can be very disabling.

"Psychosis is on a continuum, and we think we can help people much earlier, when they are experiencing less severe symptoms."

The research team conducted a feasibility study with NHS trusts across Hampshire.

They concluded that minimally adapted CBT is likely to improve outcomes for anxiety, depression and psychosis risk.

"We know that people accessing talking therapy are presenting with more complex problems than the service was designed for," Professor Newman-Taylor said.

"We also know that people are often too ashamed or fearful to talk about their unusual experiences.

"If we can intervene very early in this way, we may be able to prevent some people from developing psychosis."

The research team is planning a full trial with patients currently undergoing CBT.