Pathways Community Health in Jefferson City is one of three mental health sites in the state participating in a federal grant totaling $12 million to aid in minimizing the number of children going untreated for psychosis.
Psychosis refers to a set of symptoms such as hallucinations, delusional thoughts, disorganized speech or behavior, resulting in the loss of the ability to tell what is real and not real, Project Coordinator Jennifer Johnson said.
Pathways, a local mental health center, hosted an open house Tuesday to increase awareness about the prevalence of psychosis, as well as the resources available to help treat it.
During the open house, attendees participated in auditory and virtual reality simulations to get a feel for what a person with psychosis may experience.
"Psychosis isn't real for a lot of people, and there are few people who really understand it," Johnson said. "With this grant our focus is to catch kids at a much younger age when they first start to show signs of psychosis - before they fully develop into a psychosis episode - so we can change the trajectory of the lifelong effects it has."
The grant is targeted to help children, ages 9-17, get preventive treatment. The grant cycle will end in 2020 and will be spread among three sites including Pathways, Burrell Behavioral Health in Springfield and Ozark Center in Joplin.
Warning signs parents and health professionals can look for in children include odd thinking, paranoia, sleep disturbances, emotional outbursts, lack of emotion, suspiciousness and isolation.
Jennifer Krause, project coordinator at Burrell Behavioral Health, said psychosis is not something you can simply take care of at home. It requires a good initial diagnosis, screening and the support of a counselor specialized in the field, she said.
"When we're working with children at that age, we're looking for those changes in their baseline behavior, looking at who they were before and what has changed over time," Krause said. "The earlier parents notice changes in their child's behavior, the sooner they should take them to see a health professional."
Krause noted an experience with a 12-year-old diagnosed with schizophrenia. There was a decline in his overall ability to function, she said. His behavioral problems at school increased, and he started to distance himself from his friends.
"The longer someone goes untreated, the likelihood they will not get better and will lose a lot of independence - that may amount to not being able to hold employment, hospitalization, and may present the need for a caregiver," Krause said.
She said people who are diagnosed with psychosis as adults often say they had symptoms as children, so health professionals know it's something they can pick up on earlier if they are asked the right questions.
"Psychosis can be very debilitating, and it costs a lot of money," Johnson said. "So we want to reach out to families and children so we can stop that from happening by putting these funds toward prevention instead of cleaning up at the end."