The at-risk for psychosis terminology redefined by young people
Poster B80, Tuesday, October%209, 11:30%20am%20-%201:00%20pm, Essex%20Ballroom
Andrea Polari1,2,3, Suzie Lavoie1,2, Adam Finkelstein3, Jessica Hartmann1,2, Sung-Wan Kim4, Magenta Simmons1,2, John Stratford3, Patrick McGorry1,2, Barnaby Nelson1,2; 1Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, Australia, 2Centre for Youth Mental Health, The University of Melbourne, Australia, 3Orygen Youth Health, Melbourne, Australia, 4Department of Psychiatry, Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
The terms "Ultra High Risk" for psychosis (UHR) and "At-Risk Mental State" have been used to designate young people with increased risk of developing a psychotic disorder. After debate the Attenuated Psychotic Syndrome was added in section III of DSM5 as "condition for further study". The debate focused on stigma, discrimination, unnecessary exposure to antipsychotic medication and high number of false-positives. The language used in clinical and research settings is important because it can provide a more understandable and accurate way of describing clinical and theoretical concepts resulting in less stigma, more engagement and compliance. Efforts to update psychiatric labels to more culturally appropriate and youth friendly terms resulted in renaming 'schizophrenia' in several Asian countries. Research looking at stigma in UHR has focused on clinicians' perspective. Orygen Youth Health provides a unique environment where consumer participation is integrated to clinical work. New/alternative terms describing the At-Risk concept were generated by former patients now enrolled in the Platform Team. The generated terms included "pre-diagnosis stage", "potential of developing a mental illness" and "disposition for developing a mental illness". 50 UHR patients, 50 family members/caregivers and 50 clinicians will be asked to answer a questionnaire assessing stigma, acceptance of the currently used at-risk-related terms compared to these newly generated terms and the preferred timing, extent and context of disclosure of diagnosis. Preliminary results will be presented at the conference. Discussion will focus on clinical and service delivery implications for people at risk of developing full threshold disorders.
Topic Area: Ultra High Risk / Prodromal Research