Mental illness is a growing problem in Surrey, but there is a program that aims to treat mental health problems early on to potentially cure patients while they’re still young.
The Early Psychosis Intervention Program, or EPI for short, is a mental health outpatient treatment program offered by Fraser Health Authority that treats patients from ages 13 to 30.
“It’s more of just mental health follow-up. We have counseling, group classes, one-on-one counseling, psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, you can be followed up by a case manager, that type of thing,” said intake worker Sheryl, who wouldn’t give her last name.
The goal of the program is to treat mental health diseases such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder while they are still in the early onset stages with hopes of curing the disease, allowing patients to live normal lives again.
With mental illness second only to drug addiction as the leading cause of crime in Surrey, programs such as these could potentially prevent large amounts of crime in future years.
For more information on the EPI program, click this link.
surreybeatstreet 