I am chair of the National Mental Health Association’s Adult Services and Prevention Committee and I am trying to figure out a consumer/recovery-informed approach to the issue of prevention.

One issue for me is what can be done to prevent someone who is in mental health care from repeatedly cycling through the system.

What I have noticed is that many folks mostly get help when they are in a crisis, and receive little in the way of follow-up and support. In other words, I think many of us have found that the only way we get help is to show up at an emergency room pretty much ready to jump out a window or something. My hope is that systems of care would fund more programs such as warm lines, which allow us to seek and get support earlier on so that we don’t end up in the hospital or worse.

I would love to hear what other folks think.

Joseph Rogers