Our team of specialists provides evaluations for adolescents and young adults (14-30 years old) who may be showing early (prodromal) signs of schizophrenia. This consists of comprehensive consultations and referrals for ongoing treatment to external or internal (within the Department of Psychiatry) providers.
Please consider this clinic if you or someone you care about has any of the following symptoms:
- Perceptual disturbances
Felt distressed because they are seeing unusual things (like flashes or flames, or things appearing brighter or duller than normal) or hearing unusual sounds (like banging or clicking, or distant sounds seem louder than is normal); - Suspiciousness/paranoia
Felt distressed by the feeling that people are watching/talking about them or that they are feeling mistrustful/suspicious; - Imagination/reality distortion
Felt distressed because of the confusion about whether something they experienced was real or imaginary.
Clinical Evaluations, Screening, and Treatment
PREP aims to identify and treat individuals who show early signs of psychosis (also known as Attenuated Psychosis Syndrome) or are in the early stage of a psychotic illness. We provide specialized assessment of psychosis risk and make differential diagnosis (i.e., distinguish psychotic disorders from similar symptoms in other disorders) not ordinarily available in regular mental health evaluations. Patients can self-refer for an evaluation. We also receive referrals from internal (Michigan Medicine) or community providers. All new patients who come to the Department of Psychiatry are also systematically screened to determine if they need a PREP evaluation.
When individuals do not have insurance coverage to afford an outpatient evaluation, they may consider participating in a research study to gain free access to one of our specialized evaluations (see Research Activity).
We provide follow-up care for patients determined to be appropriate for PREP. For patients in the at-risk phase, we focus on cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) — a skill-based psychotherapy to manage symptoms and functional difficulties without resorting to antipsychotic medications. For patients in the early phases of psychosis, antipsychotic medications play a key role in treatment; we provide CBT as an important augmentation.
Appointments: 734-764-0231
