PSYCHOSIS in Primary Care

Psychosis Care for Primary Care Clinicians

Psychosis is a common symptom that many primary care clinicians will encounter. Up to 1 of every 11 people may experience some facet of psychosis at some point in their life (McGrath et al., 2015).

The primary care clinician may be the first medical professional that a person with psychosis sees. Nearly two-thirds of young people with early psychosis make help-seeking attempts in primary care in the six months before first diagnosis.(Anderson et al., 2019). In many cases, the primary care clinician may be the only medical professional available to the patient for the foreseeable future.

Primary care clinicians are well-positioned to help people with psychosis:

• They know their patients’ medical histories and can note unusual changes from prior behavior that might otherwise go unnoticed.
• They already have long-term trusting relationships with their patients. That trust is crucial when dealing with a highly stigmatized, often frightening condition.
• They can use their broad medical expertise to evaluate medical causes of psychosis.

Help from a primary care clinician reduces the need for psychiatric hospitalization and aversive experiences with police and emergency medical services (Anderson et al., 2013).

Early recognition and effective treatment of psychosis is associated with faster recovery and better long-term prognosis (Albert & Weibell, 2019).

Through active involvement at the earliest stages, primary care clinicians can do a world of good in helping people with psychosis to achieve faster recovery, more durable recovery and higher levels of post illness recovery, or prognosis.

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Additional Psychosis Resources

Online Learning and Case Presentations: NEOMED offers free CME for weekly sessions that provide a network of like-minded professionals, didactics on topics like pharmacology, system integration, care transitions and opportunities to share your confounding cases with experts.

The Integrated Care Project ECHO at NEOMED (IC@N) offers free education and consultation to licensed clinicians. IC@N meets each Friday from noon to 1:00 PM (eastern time). For more information, contact IntegratedCareECHO@neomed.edu.

The SZconsult Project ECHO offers free education and consultation to licensed clinicians. SZconsult meets each Tuesday from noon to 1:00 PM (eastern time). For more information contact BestCenter@neomed.edu.

Get Help: Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services offers opportunities to learn more and get help.

Referral Patients: Primary care clinicians may wish to refer patients to Coordinated Specialty Care for First Episode Psychosis programs.