OBJECTIVE: Schizophrenia is probably one of the most costly mental-health illnesses in terms of its impact on the society, on the health-care system and on patients and their families. We aim to develop a framework for analyzing schizophrenia through the estimation of the costs of illness as well as the costs of relapse in the management of schizophrenia in a UK care setting. METHODS: A model that utilizes a Markov structure was elaborated in order to calculate the lifetime cost of illness and the principal cost driver in schizophrenia, the cost of relapse. The model included the main confounding factors such as compliance, dropout and treatment location, that have been shown to be important in the literature when constructing a model. The costs were estimated for a 10-year period as well as for the lifetime of a patient, and consider all the types of treatment structures in the UK. RESULTS: The average 10-year cost of illness for a patient in a UK treating environment was estimated to £ 66 600, and the lifetime cost per patient to £ 98 510. As for the cost of relapse of a schizophrenic patient, the 10-year cost was £ 51 630 and the lifetime cost per patient was £ 75 890. CONCLUSIONS: This model enables the identification and the calculation of the main cost drivers in the treatment of schizophrenia. This model can therefore be used to evaluate the cost implication of treatment options and policy choices, by generating budgetary previsions. Hence, this model can help decision-makers in policy-making for mental health care organizations in the management of schizophrenia. Neurological Disorders