NIMH Google+ Hangout on First-Episode Psychosis

April 17, 2015 • Live Chat

Learn more about warning signs and treatments for first-episode psychosis, by joining the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for a live Google+ Hangout on Tuesday, May 5, 2015, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. EST. NIMH expert Amy Goldstein, Ph.D., chief of the Preventive Interventions Research Program will host the Hangout featuring NIMH grantee John Kane, M.D., Vice President for Behavioral Health Services of the North Shore - Long Island Jewish Health System and Chairman of Psychiatry at The Zucker Hillside Hospital.

Dr. Kane also leads the RAISE Early Treatment Program – one of the two research teams that make up the NIMH-funded RAISE study. “RAISE” stands for Recovery After an Initial Schizophrenia Episode.

Each year, about 100,000 young people in the U.S. experience a first episode of psychosis. These adolescents may have warning signs including:

• struggling in school
• having trouble thinking clearly or concentrating
• experiencing paranoid or intense new thoughts
• having trouble communicating
• becoming socially isolated

Studies have shown that it is common for a person to have psychotic symptoms for more than a year before receiving treatment. Reducing this “duration of untreated psychosis” is important because early treatment often means a better recovery.

You may watch the Hangout live on NIMH’s Google+ or YouTube  pages. If you are unable to watch the Hangout live, it will be archived on NIMH’s YouTube channel afterwards. You may submit your questions during or ahead of the Hangout on our Google+ page or via Twitter. You will need Google+ and Twitter accounts to submit questions. To submit questions via Twitter, please use the hashtag #PsychosisChat. If you don’t have Google+ or Twitter accounts, you can also email your questions to NIMHpress@nih.gov.

This program is part of National Children’s Mental Health Awareness Week.