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S015-1

Early Intervention Services for Psychosis in Korea

Young-Chul Chung

Chonbuk National University Medical School, Korea

Background/Objective: The Eppendorf Schizophrenia Inventory (ESI), a clinical questionnaire
designed to measure schizophrenia-specific subjective experiences and to study schizotypy, was
standardized to detect individuals at risk for psychosis in non-help-seeking adolescents in a
community setting. Currently, the Korean version of the ESI is widely used in school mental health
project and community mental health promotion centers. To decrease stigma associated with the term
“schizophrenia”, we renamed it as “Attunement disorder”. It refers to the story of Buddha teaching
one of his disciples that, in the pursuit of enlightenment, hastening will bring upon sickness, whereas
procrastinating will result in laziness. Similarly, thought-perception sensitivity syndrome (TPSS) was
suggested as an alternative for psychosis.

Method: As of 2014, the number of community mental health promotion center is 208. Among them,
only three centers are providing early intervention services. In Jeonju center, a comprehensive
psychosocial service, “Mind Flower service”, was initiated in 2010. To investigate effects of “Mind
Flower service” on symptoms and socio-occupational functioning, twenty five subjects with early
psychosis were participated in the one-year follow up study.

Result: At one-year follow up, we found significant improvement in the PANSS, social functioning,
and interpersonal sensitivity.

Conclusion: To provide optimal care and improve recovery rate in patients with severe mental
illnesses, government policy about the establishment of “Early Intervention Center for Severe Mental
Illness” should be considered seriously.