Early intervention

What is early intervention?Jess Needs hekp in the swimming pool, Assertive out reach
Early intervention in psychosis teams specialise in working with young people aged between 14 and 35 who are experiencing their first episode of psychosis. They provide a range of services, including anti-psychotic medications and therapy, tailored to the needs of young people with a view to facilitating recovery. The aim is to support young people during an important stage of life when they are very vulnerable to developing life-long problems such as long-term unemployment and social exclusion .

'Early intervention' aims to prevent, cut short or reduce the severity of psychotic problems before they are fully developed.

Psychologists involved in early intervention are often as concerned with the establishment of services as they are with conducting one to-one therapy. Sometimes the emphasis is on people who have never before had psychotic experiences. At other times, the emphasis is on helping people who have had psychotic experiences in the past, learn to recognise early signs of a reoccurrence of the problems.

Early intervention is believed to offer long-term benefits. We know that in general the longer the delay before people with distressing psychotic experiences receive help, the more serious the consequences. It follows that help should be offered swiftly. Many psychologists believe that it is during the early phase of psychotic experiences that crucial psychological and biological changes occur. Early intervention involves identifying the early warning signs of psychotic experiences and offering help early. Specific strategies have been suggested.

Community education programmes could emphasise the fact that help is available, focusing on those who are likely to meet people with psychotic experiences (e.g.college counsellors, homeless agencies, police).G.P.s could be trained to recognise psychotic experiences. An appropriate keyworker should be assigned early, to promote service engagement and avoid social isolation. Treatment should be provided at home or in a non-stigmatised setting whenever possible.

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