WHAT IS EARLY PSYCHOSIS

The vision is for every adolescent and young adult at risk for psychosis to have access to early screening and assessment as well as specialized treatment and consultation

Psychosis or Schizophrenia is a mental illness that is extremely stigmatized and deeply misunderstood by the average person.

What Schizophrenia is NOT:

“Multiple personalities” which is an entirely different disorder called Dissociative Identity Disorder or DID.
Something that causes someone to be evil, immoral or violent at any higher rate than any other person. In fact, individuals with schizophrenia are more likely to experience violence or exploitation AGAINST them than perpetuate it on someone else.
Scary. Schizophrenia and other psychotic spectrum disorders are merely an expression of the human experience which is actually much more common that people would think.

What schizophrenia IS:

One of a spectrum of disorders which include psychosis.

What is psychosis? Psychosis is a cluster of certain experiences that mental health professionals call “symptoms” which are divided into two categories: Negative symptoms and positive symptoms. These labels confuse some people but merely mean the absence of something (negative symptoms) or the addition of something (positive symptoms). Negative symptoms include difficulty with motivation, increased energy, and emotional flatness. Positive symptoms are the experiences of reality that are different from most folks including hearing voices, seeing things (auditory and visual hallucinations) and unusual beliefs (delusions).

Psychotic spectrum disorders historically have been debilitating for folks who experience them, especially before we had medication to treat them. However, even the medications we have are incredibly powerful and can, over time, cause debilitating medical conditions such as tremors, metabolism and neurological disorders. The medications also do not treat the negative symptoms which most folks with psychotic disorders report are far more debilitating than the positive symptoms. Schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders also historically have a most challenging long term prognosis including high rates of homelessness, criminal system involvement, and suicidality.

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THERE IS HOPE!

In the last decades, the clinical world has made incredible breakthroughs about psychotic spectrum disorders which allow us to detect adolescents and young adults who are at risk and in the very early stages of the process. Historically, mental health professionals thought that psychotic disorders did not emerge until early adulthood. However, we now know that there are indications, vulnerabilities and symptoms we can use to detect psychosis as young as by age 12. Early intervention aims to mitigate or even prevent these outcomes BEFORE an individual's first psychotic break. Early detection and prevention programs include specialized assessment, consultation and treatment for adolescents as young as 12 through 30 with complex clinical presentations.

Currently, and with the support of Massachusetts Department of Mental Health and SAMHSA, we are offering workshops to professionals who come into regular contact with youth with complex clinical presentations on how to identify those at clinical high risk for psychosis. We will also provide a brief and free assessment measure (21 items) you can easily administer to adolescents you work with to determine if they should be referred for a more in-depth official assessment called the SIPS either through our organization or a local organization near you. The SIPS provides detailed clinical data which will be provided to the individual, their family and treatment team through a consultation as a part of the assessment.