ABOUT THIS SITE

This website is an Early Psychosis Intervention (EPI) Youth and Family Education Initiative developed in partnership with the Ontario Working Group on Early Intervention in Psychosis. The site evolved from my family’s wish for centralized access to best-practice, personal, and creative resources relating to psychotic disorders. In 1997, I was diagnosed and treated on an out-patient basis for my first-episode of psychosis at the Prevention and Early Intervention Program for Psychoses (PEPP) in London, Ontario. At the time, I lived with my parents in a small Northern Ontario town, and we had to travel 800 km to access treatment at the PEPP program. Given that early intervention services were so far away during a critical time in my recovery, my mom and I began working on GetHelpEarly.ca so that young people and families like ours could connect with one another. We wanted a place where first-episode youth and their loved ones could go together to learn and share their personal insights through stories and art.

This EPI Youth and Family Education Initiative was developed using multiple resources from a variety of perspectives. Clinical resources were combined with the voices of young people living with psychosis and their families to gain a more holistic understanding of the disease. My mom and I believe that people living with psychosis can help enhance the knowledge of those interested in learning more about this complex neurological condition. It is our goal to help those visiting this site to move from clinical theory into the realm of personal experience. We recognize youth and families have insights to offer each other, as well as mental health professionals, on a variety of aspects relating to the disease, including: the early warning signs of psychosis, the emotional impact of psychosis on young people, the side effects of medication, coping strategies, stigma, advocacy, and so on.

EPI youth and families donated their talent, experience and expertise to help create this youth and family led resource. It is hoped GetHelpEarly.ca will be a place where many young people and families will gather to share their experience, talent, and personal triumphs. Canadian and international early intervention youth are invited to send in their art, poetry, and personal stories to tara@gethelpearly.ca. Similarly, parents, partners, siblings, and friends are invited to e-mail their stories for on-line posting.

Special thanks to the first-episode youth and families and the Ontario Working Group on Early Intervention in Psychosis who helped make this website possible. Thanks also to PEPP-London and PEPP-Montreal for their support of clients and families.

- Tara M.