Best to find and treat psychosis early | News, Sports, Jobs - Daily Mining Gazette
My group of friends and I did not know what to think or do when, back in my teenage years, one of our friends started seeing things flying around his head that none of the rest of us saw, but we all knew something was wrong. We have learned more about mental illness since then, including what anybody with a little training can do to help.
We continue to learn how to treat psychosis, a condition that affects three in 100 of us and costs $300 billion each year, with the greatest economic burden coming in the first year of symptoms. Unfortunately, the average delay in getting treatment is 74 weeks after the illness onset, a huge problem for individuals experiencing this type of illness — not only because the symptoms can feel terrifying, but because the longer treatment gets delayed, the more complicated and challenging the disease can be to treat. Like my friend, most individuals are young, between 16 and 25 years old, when they experience their first episode of psychosis as part of a serious mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Imagine how hopeless it must feel like to have psychosis such as disturbing thoughts or hearing voices telling them scary things or to not trust people. Imagine feeling afraid to try to explain these experiences to family or friends, or how hard it is to concentrate when voices are in the way. Imagine living in secret with this condition for over a year before someone helps them connect to treatment. Imagine the struggle to live with these symptoms during the period even after treatment efforts start before the treatments start to work. As many as 1/3 will try suicide.
An important part of recovery is hope. Hope starts by connecting someone to effective help that may include psychotherapy, medication therapy, case management, and supported employment and education. Education about the illness and ways to support a loved one can also be very helpful to family members. With half of all mental illness starting by age 14 and 75% by the mid 20's, it is important that we connect these young people to help to give them the best path to recovery.
One effective way to help is with more ordinary citizens getting their Mental Health First Aid certification, which teaches community members how to recognize early start of symptoms of a mental health problem and how to help connect the individual to help they need. More than 300 individuals in the Copper Country are certified in either Mental Health First Aid or Youth Mental Health First Aid. More are signing up for classes offered in Houghton March 22 (Youth Mental Health First Aid) and April 12 (general Mental Health First Aid). These classes are free thanks to funding from Copper Country Mental Health Services, Rice Memorial Clinic Foundation, Copper Country Intermediate School District, and a SAMHSA-Project Aware grant. Seating is limited seating and will be available to registered individuals on a first-come-first-served basis. Participants must first complete a two-hour online pre-work plus before attending an in-person one-day training. Those interested in becoming certified may register online at http://bit.do/mhfa.
Brian D. Rendel, MA LLP LPC NCC is the Training and Prevention Coordinator at Copper Country Mental Health Institute in Houghton, MI. Telephone: 906-482-4880. Email: brendel@cccmh.org
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