News
Mental illness: getting people back on their feet
2006-02-16
Douglas symposium looks at early diagnosis and community re-integration
Montreal, February 16, 2006 – Most mental disorders are silent and don’t have physical manifestations. A colleague or family member may be affected and suffering alone, without your knowledge. These disorders affect one out of four individuals and may have devastating effects, making life a constant struggle. Clinicians are gathered at the Douglas Hospital today and tomorrow for a mental health symposium which will address how to better recognize symptoms, and discuss new approaches to diagnose, treat and reintegrate these individuals into the community.
In tomorrow’s session, Ashok Malla, MD, Director of the Douglas Hospital’s PEPP-Montreal (Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses) and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, will argue that time is everything. Psychoses, such as schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis, can be treated successfully if they are diagnosed early enough. He is evaluating the utility of newly developed educational tools to assist health and counseling professionals with early identification of these disorders.
“Some recent studies of pathways to care, including our own, suggest that teaching early case identification skills to primary care professionals may reduce treatment delays,” says Malla. “Getting the correct treatment promptly is our goal and it is our hope that our interventions at primary care level will assist us in achieving this."
William Spaulding, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska, and clinical psychologist at the Lincoln Regional Centre’ Community Transition Program will discuss what is necessary for people with the most severe and disabling psychiatric conditions to be able to participate in community life. “First, mental health systems need to be able to apply an increasingly broad range of specific treatments and therapies of known effectiveness,” he says. “Second, we need a method to provide these treatments and therapies in an individually tailored and coordinated way. Third we need to take these treatments and therapies where they are needed, in the communities, institutions, or jails.”
He adds, “Our intensive psychiatric rehabilitation program in Lincoln shows that even in a highly restrictive setting, people can make significant gains and return to the community. Also, our data shows that intensive rehabilitation is cost effective - it pays for itself through reduced use of services after discharge.”
This morning, Sagar V. Parikh, MD, Deputy Psychiatrist-in-Chief, University Health Network and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto talked about the best practices to treat major depression and ways to use a key patient teaching tool from the World Health Organization to help patients manage their own depression more effectively.
About the Douglas
Founded 125 years ago (1881-2006), the Douglas Hospital is a centre of excellence for care, research, and teaching in mental health. Affiliated with McGill University and the World Health Organization, it treats people battling with depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer Disease. Its Research Centre is the second largest in the country, with a team of over 60 scientists and clinical researchers and 180 post-graduate students. This team is devoted to making better sense of the causes of mental disorders – whether genetic, environmental, cultural or social – as well as developing diagnostic tools, treatments and prevention methods.
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Montreal, February 16, 2006 – Most mental disorders are silent and don’t have physical manifestations. A colleague or family member may be affected and suffering alone, without your knowledge. These disorders affect one out of four individuals and may have devastating effects, making life a constant struggle. Clinicians are gathered at the Douglas Hospital today and tomorrow for a mental health symposium which will address how to better recognize symptoms, and discuss new approaches to diagnose, treat and reintegrate these individuals into the community.
In tomorrow’s session, Ashok Malla, MD, Director of the Douglas Hospital’s PEPP-Montreal (Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses) and Professor at the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University, will argue that time is everything. Psychoses, such as schizophrenia and manic depressive psychosis, can be treated successfully if they are diagnosed early enough. He is evaluating the utility of newly developed educational tools to assist health and counseling professionals with early identification of these disorders.
“Some recent studies of pathways to care, including our own, suggest that teaching early case identification skills to primary care professionals may reduce treatment delays,” says Malla. “Getting the correct treatment promptly is our goal and it is our hope that our interventions at primary care level will assist us in achieving this."
William Spaulding, PhD, professor of psychology at the University of Nebraska, and clinical psychologist at the Lincoln Regional Centre’ Community Transition Program will discuss what is necessary for people with the most severe and disabling psychiatric conditions to be able to participate in community life. “First, mental health systems need to be able to apply an increasingly broad range of specific treatments and therapies of known effectiveness,” he says. “Second, we need a method to provide these treatments and therapies in an individually tailored and coordinated way. Third we need to take these treatments and therapies where they are needed, in the communities, institutions, or jails.”
He adds, “Our intensive psychiatric rehabilitation program in Lincoln shows that even in a highly restrictive setting, people can make significant gains and return to the community. Also, our data shows that intensive rehabilitation is cost effective - it pays for itself through reduced use of services after discharge.”
This morning, Sagar V. Parikh, MD, Deputy Psychiatrist-in-Chief, University Health Network and Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto talked about the best practices to treat major depression and ways to use a key patient teaching tool from the World Health Organization to help patients manage their own depression more effectively.
About the Douglas
Founded 125 years ago (1881-2006), the Douglas Hospital is a centre of excellence for care, research, and teaching in mental health. Affiliated with McGill University and the World Health Organization, it treats people battling with depression, schizophrenia, eating disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and degenerative illnesses such as Alzheimer Disease. Its Research Centre is the second largest in the country, with a team of over 60 scientists and clinical researchers and 180 post-graduate students. This team is devoted to making better sense of the causes of mental disorders – whether genetic, environmental, cultural or social – as well as developing diagnostic tools, treatments and prevention methods.
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