Many medical professionals and laypersons have been educated to believe that great progress has occurred in the treatment of patients diagnosed with Serious Mental Illnesses, such as schizophrenia.  However, the research evidence suggests otherwise.
	One popular research strategy for evaluating the effectiveness of healthcare compares changes in SMRs (standardized mortality ratios) over time.  For those who are unfamiliar with the term, the Standardized Mortality Ratio divides the death rate of patients with a certain condition by the death rate of age-matched, unaffected controls.
	An interesting analysis performed for residents of Stockholm County (Sweden) evaluated changes in the SMRs of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia between the years 1976 and 1995.