Views from a number of different authorities on the concept of early identification and early intervention of psychosis/schizophrenia, as advocated by Prof. Patrick McGorry, are covered in this interesting three and a half page article. As you might expect, opinions of WA ALP politician Martin Whitely and US psychiatry professor Allen Frances are included in this piece, which also features input from psychiatry professionals from the UK, Australia and the United States.
Professor Emeritus Allen Frances can only see three little problems with the idea of early intervention in psychosis:
"....there is simply no available way to accurately identify kids who are really at risk of later psychosis, no effective preventative treatment and the potential medications have extremely harmful side effects."
I am most disappointed and surprised that I could find no mention in Lisa Pryor's story of McGorry's past support from a number of pharmaceutical companies, or his failure to declare these competing interests in many of the medical journal papers that have been published over the years in which he has been an author or co-author. I have doubts that the journalist Pryor, with a law background, was the right person to write a critical article about McGorry's grand plans in experimental psychiatry. I believe she is the same Lisa Pryor who is the spouse of Julian Morrow of The Chaser fame.
Minds at Risk: Choosing the Right Path for Adolescent Mental Health.
by Lisa Pryor
The Monthly.
July 2011
http://www.themonthly.com.au/choosing-right-path-adolescent-mental-health-minds-risk-lisa-pryor-3470
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