However, the phrase “Early Intervention” can apply to recovery from any mental illness. *The BC Early Intervention Study (1998) found that on average, three years elapses between the time a young person first experiences symptoms of schizophrenia and the time he or she accesses help. For young people with mood disorders, the average time was seven and a half years. The reasons are complex. Without enough information to recognize the signs of mental illness, people delay seeking help. When they do, they may find that their family doctor isn’t adequately trained to recognize the signs of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, and may mistake those disorders for depression or substance abuse. In school, mental health problems might be mislabelled as behavioural issues. Then, when someone goes to the Emergency ward, if he or she is well enough to ask for help, it may be assumed he or she is not to be sick enough to need it. All of the preceding circumstances contribute to delays in seeking service, and those delays keep people from getting prompt and proper diagnoses and treatment.

The study found that education is the top contributor to illness self-management and recovery. Both clients and their families requested education that is counselling-based, rather than fact-based. Learning from someone who has “been through it and recovered” was the most powerful type of information, they said. It was also found to be important that people connect with community supports early on. In many cases clients were not offered community support until symptoms had recurred a number of times.

Canadian Mental Health Association/Peel Branch offers several Mental Health Promotion programs, such as the Resource Centre and Youth Net whose mandates are to educate people about mental health and illness and the options available. The Consumer Survivor Support Network, run by and for consumer survivors, offers peer support from people who have “been through it and recovered.” FACT Peel+ offers case management services to adolescents and young adults who have recently experienced a first episode of psychosis. Individuals and their families are supported and educated about their condition.

*Information taken from the BC Early Intervention Study (1998) from CMHA, BC Division.