Early diagnosis and treatment are key to preventing mental health crises | Letters

Dr Anna Stevens responds to an editorial on mental health privatisation and says that problems don’t go away just because they are not diagnosed Maybe there would be fewer mental health crises (Editorial, 25 April) if priority was given to earlier diagnosis and treatment. For example, the main complication of the chronic condition generalised anxiety disorder is substance misuse. If patients with it were identified early and had specialised therapy, many cases of secondary depression and substance misuse could be prevented. Other conditions that may be missed or underdiagnosed include obsessive compulsive disorder, bipolar 2, somatisation disorder and early psychosis. Early treatment could modify the course of the illness, and patients who are less unwell have more scope to understand and contribute to their treatment plan. We try to treat patients with physical illness this way, so why not patients with mental illness? Continue reading...
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