Psychosis Expert Describes Staged-Treatment, Early Intervention Efforts in Australia

Young people face the most critical period for the onset of mental disorders from puberty to their mid-20s, yet also face the greatest challenges of any age group in accessing services, said Patrick McGorry, M.D., Ph.D., on Sunday at APA’s annual meeting. In the developed world, at least, that cohort is probably in the best physical health in human history but faces a surge in risk for depression, anxiety, mood disorders, psychosis, and substance abuse.

However, if those conditions are identified and treated early enough, it is possible to reduce or eliminate years of ensuing morbidity, said McGorry, executive director of Australia’s Orygen Youth Health and a professor of youth mental health at the University of Melbourne.

Engaging these young people requires a “soft entry,” a way of getting into a system of care without the usual steep threshold of the traditional medical system. In Australia, that has come in the form of Headspace, an enhanced, informal, drop-in primary care setting that also offers mental health screening. Headspace is backed up by specialists to whom young people with serious symptoms can be referred.

Headspace has been enthusiastically received both by its young clients and by the 70 communities in which it has been embedded, said McGorry. This broad-based public support can serve as a model for expanding Headspace in Australia and for bringing similar programs to other countries, he said. >>watch video

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