This handbook examines state-of-the-art research and clinical findings on attenuated psychosis syndrome (APS) across the globe. It addresses symptoms, assessment methods, and treatment approaches as they differ and converge across countries and cultures. The handbook explores how the illness impairs many aspects of daily functioning, with high rates of suicide and a reduced life span. It details how early detection is critical and may greatly reduce the public health burden of the illness. Chapters describe the early identification and intervention efforts that are currently underway across the world. The book offers international findings from prominent researchers, elaborating culturally relevant illness symptoms, help-seeking behaviors, and assessment and intervention strategies. In addition, chapters illustrate wide variations in symptom expression and experience, reinforcing the necessity of culturally attuned practice in patient-centered care. The book concludes by examining the implications – challenges and opportunities – for future research and clinical practices from an international perspective. Topics featured in the Handbook include: Barriers to service in low-resourced countries. The role of traditional or culturally acceptable care in developing early intervention models. The reliability and validity of tools for assessing and identifying APS. Possible medical diagnoses that can present with APS symptoms and how to differentiate these conditions from APS. /divThe Handbook of Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome Across Cultures is a must-have resource for researchers, professors, clinicians, and related professionals as well as graduate students in child and school psychology, psychiatry, social work, and related disciplines.

The new edition of this popular handbook has been thoroughly updated to include the latest data concerning treatment of first-episode patients. Drawing from their experience, the authors discuss the presentation and assessment of the first psychotic episode and review the appropriate use of antipsychotic agents and psychosocial approaches in effective management.

Using the authors' over thirteen years of experience at the psychosis-risk clinic at Yale University School of Medicine, The Psychosis-Risk Syndrome presents a concise handbook that details the diagnostic tools and building blocks that comprise the Structural Interview for Psychosis-Risk Syndromes, or SIPS. Clear and to the point, this volume provides an in-depth description of this new clinical high-risk population, along with instructions on how to use the SIPS to evaluate persons for psychosis-risk.The handbook's main section takes the reader step-by-step through the SIPS evaluation, tracking how patients and families find their way to the clinic, the initial interview, the evaluation process, and the summary session consisting of findings and future options. The core diagnostic symptoms of the SIPS and psychosis-risk states are illustrated with dozens of symptom and case examples drawn from real but disguised patients from the Yale clinic. With an emphasis on clinical usefulness, the handbook finishes with "practice cases" for the reader to test his or her new skills at evaluating clinical populations for psychosis-risk.

Estimates indicate that as many as 1 in 4 Americans will experience a mental health problem or will misuse alcohol or drugs in their lifetimes. These disorders are among the most highly stigmatized health conditions in the United States, and they remain barriers to full participation in society in areas as basic as education, housing, and employment. Improving the lives of people with mental health and substance abuse disorders has been a priority in the United States for more than 50 years. The Community Mental Health Act of 1963 is considered a major turning point in America's efforts to improve behavioral healthcare. It ushered in an era of optimism and hope and laid the groundwork for the consumer movement and new models of recovery. The consumer movement gave voice to people with mental and substance use disorders and brought their perspectives and experience into national discussions about mental health. However over the same 50-year period, positive change in American public attitudes and beliefs about mental and substance use disorders has lagged behind these advances. Stigma is a complex social phenomenon based on a relationship between an attribute and a stereotype that assigns undesirable labels, qualities, and behaviors to a person with that attribute. Labeled individuals are then socially devalued, which leads to inequality and discrimination. This report contributes to national efforts to understand and change attitudes, beliefs and behaviors that can lead to stigma and discrimination. Changing stigma in a lasting way will require coordinated efforts, which are based on the best possible evidence, supported at the national level with multiyear funding, and planned and implemented by an effective coalition of representative stakeholders. Ending Discrimination Against People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders: The Evidence for Stigma Change explores stigma and discrimination faced by individuals with mental or substance use disorders and recommends effective strategies for reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek treatment and other supportive services. It offers a set of conclusions and recommendations about successful stigma change strategies and the research needed to inform and evaluate these efforts in the United States.

The understanding of how to reduce risk factors for mental disorders has expanded remarkably as a result of recent scientific advances. This study, mandated by Congress, reviews those advances in the context of current research and provides a targeted definition of prevention and a conceptual framework that emphasizes risk reduction. Highlighting opportunities for and barriers to interventions, the book draws on successful models for the prevention of cardiovascular disease, injuries, and smoking. In addition, it reviews the risk factors associated with Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia, alcohol abuse and dependence, depressive disorders, and conduct disorders and evaluates current illustrative prevention programs. The models and examination provide a framework for the design, application, and evaluation of interventions intended to prevent mental disorders and the transfer of knowledge about prevention from research to clinical practice. The book presents a focused research agenda, with recommendations on how to develop effective intervention programs, create a cadre of prevention researchers, and improve coordination among federal agencies.