Mindmap, the public awareness campaign to promote early detection and treatment of psychosis, marked its one-year anniversary with a party May 25 at The Grove on Chapel Street.
The gathering was an opportunity for the service directors to thank providers and volunteers who have helped to recruit and treat people in the first year, and to tout the program’s efforts to reach more people.
Mindmap is using an aggressive marketing campaign through social media, a website, blog posts, and other advertising to encourage people to seek professional care if they believe they suffer from psychosis.
Psychosis is a mental health problem that causes people to perceive things differently from those around them. It manifests itself in hallucinations or delusions, and is often caused by schizophrenia, medical illness, or the use of drugs or alcohol.
Mindmap was designed in collaboration between Yale and the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services. It was launched by the Specialized Treatment Early in Psychosis (STEP) clinic at the Connecticut Mental Health Center (CMHC), and targets men and women ages 16 to 35 in 10 towns in and around New Haven.
The director is Vinod Srihari, MD, associate professor of psychiatry at Yale.