Achieving a better knowledge on the causes and early course of psychoses: a profitable investment for the future?

Abstract

The three Editorials published in this issue of EPS continue the exploration of the multifaceted aspects of psychosis proposed in some recent issues of the Journal and provide an important contribution to the above mentioned challenge. In the first Editorial, the authors present the state of the art on early interventions in psychosis, from their perspective as one of the leading groups in this field. The authors suggest that early interventions should be considered as part of the mainstream approach that has been proven to be effective in reducing the duration of untreated illness and, to some extent, to improve outcome. The second Editorial, explore the specificity of the early course of bipolar disorder and confute some stereotypes about it having a more benign course than other psychoses. In the third Editorial, the authors provide an overview of those adverse social experiences that may be aetiologically relevant in schizophrenia and specifically explore data concerning ethnicity from the UK AESOP Study and other studies. We believe that promoting good quality research on mental disorders at their onset, embedded within the framework of routine clinical practice, and at the same time working to pursue a timely, high quality and evidence-based care, are not only fundamental duties for mental health services, but also a profitable investment for the future of psychiatry. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)