Early intervention in psychosis: how long is long enough?

Over the past two decades numerous early intervention for psychosis services (EI) have been set up worldwide (particularly in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada and Australia). This drive was based on preliminary research suggesting that reducing treatment delay and providing intensive, phase specific specialised interventions in the initial few years of psychosis might improve long term outcomes (Birchwood, Todd & Jackson, 1998).

There has been support in more recent years that these services do indeed improve clinical and functional outcomes when compared with standard community mental health care (Petersen et al., 2005; Craig et al., 2004). However, recent evidence has suggested that these initial gains made during the intensive intervention phase are not maintained once the EI intervention ends (Gafoor et al., 2010).

1 Like

Realistically for most schizophrenia patients the intensive intervention services should last a lifetime just like the medicine unless the patient just has a single psychotic episode. Iā€™m sure the way it will work however is for the program to be extended yet another year until they realize that fact.