Prevention

Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary Prevention

Primary prevention can be understood as a means of stopping the onset of new cases of an illness. In the case of primary prevention, the individual is permanently protected.

Secondary prevention involves early detection and prompt intervention before significant damage to the nervous system can be done. The earlier the detection and the intervention, the more likely the outcome will be successful. Secondary prevention can even include individuals who are at high risk, but still have shown no significant signs of illness.

Tertiary prevention is the effort to reduce the deficits caused by the illness and, additionally, to maximize functioning.

The Focus of the Mental Illness Prevention Center

MIPC currently focuses on secondary prevention. A better understanding of secondary prevention will ultimately hold the key to primary prevention because the early signs of illness invariably contain clues as to their origin. The unique, multidisciplinary research institute that is MIPC seeks to:

• Identify the factors that contribute to mental illness.
• Understand why certain individuals are predisposed.
• Prevent the development of mental illness at its earliest stages.

This is our mission.