We encourage you and others in your family to participate in local support and advocacy organizations, including the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). NAMI offers many resources — such as the Family-to-Family program — for family members who can't be directly involved with their relative's treatment, and for those wishing to connect with other families who have had similar experiences. For more support opportunities click here.
Treatment early in the process, even in the "at risk" or prodromal phases before full psychosis has developed, can pre-empt scary, risky behaviors and may prevent the development of full-blown psychosis altogether for some people. Those interventions can include individual and family therapy, education about the illness (psychoeducation), and close monitoring of symptoms. This allows the treatment team, including the individual and family, to build critical relationships, knowledge, and supports; to develop communication, problem-solving, coping, and stress reduction skills; and to catch emerging psychosis as early as possible.
Founded in January 2009, the Center for Excellence in Community Mental Health is part of the Department of Psychiatry in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Addressing quality of care and workforce development issues in North Carolina's mental health system, the Center and its clinical programs are supported by a three-year grant from The Duke Endowment, as well as Cross Area Services Program (CASP)
funds. The program operates in conjunction with multiple university, state, and community-based partners.
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