Helping youth diagnosed with early stages of psychosis

Date:
October 14, 2020
Source:
University of British Columbia Okanagan campus
Summary:
New research is highlighting the need for improved training when
it comes to helping young people living with psychosis determine
their sense of identity.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
New UBC research is highlighting the need for improved training when
it comes to helping young people living with psychosis determine their
sense of identity.


========================================================================== "Identity development is a normal part of growing up and generally happens
when someone is in their late adolescence or early adult years," explains Shelly Ben-David, assistant professor at UBC Okanagan's School of Social
Work and study lead author. "It's that time in life when a young person
starts asking who they are and exploring their personal goals, their
own values and even their role in life." But at this stage in life,
when personal identity is being explored and acknowledged, young people
might also have their first experience with a mental health issue such
as psychosis -- if that happens, those young people may have a difficult
time clearly defining their personal identity or even a sense of worth.

"The onset of psychosis in adolescence or young adulthood has the
potential to dramatically interfere with identity-related processes,"
says David Kealy, assistant professor with UBC Vancouver's department
of psychiatry and study co- author. "This creates an entire level
of vulnerability for youth to contend with in their early psychosis
recovery." Kealy explains that psychotic disorders are stigmatized in
society and that can lead to a negative sense of self in a young person.

"This can become a profound obstacle for someone in the beginning stages
of their adulthood," he adds.

Ben-David says part of the solution is early intervention, since the
longer the psychosis goes untreated, the worse the outcome.

"Current psychosis treatment often tends to not focus on identity
development and indeed our study shows that there's a lack of training
in this area," says Ben-David.

With that in mind, the researchers surveyed more than 300
multi-professional clinicians working in early psychosis intervention
programs in BC. They found that only half of those surveyed felt they had
a high level of confidence in their ability to address issues related to identity in treatment -- revealing a gap between clinicians' recognition
of the importance of identity as a concern and their capacity to help
their clients with this issue in a consistent and meaningful way.

"Our findings indicate a need for early psychosis programs to invest
in identity-related training for clinicians," says Ben-David. "Next
steps are to work closely with the community to explore the impact
of identity-focused interventions in the early stages of psychosis."
"Our goal is to help as many young people as possible." Their research,
funded by the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and a UBC Collaborative Research Mobility Award, was published recently in Early Intervention in Psychiatry.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_British_Columbia_Okanagan_campus. Note: Content may be
edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Shelly Ben‐David, David Kealy, Jessica Hanson, Radha Ortiz.

Perspectives on personal identity in the early stages of psychosis:
A survey of Canadian clinicians. Early Intervention in Psychiatry,
2020; DOI: 10.1111/eip.13026 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201014114631.htm

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