March 27, 2013

Motion: This house believes that psychiatrists should not be identifying people who are at high risk for developing psychosis

Arguing For the Motion: Dr. Rudolf Uher (Psychiatrist) and Dr. Marie-Claire Borque (Resident)

Opposing the Motion: Dr. Sabina Abidi (Psychiatrist) and Dr. Michael Butterfield (Resident)

Moderator: Dr. Michael Teehan

Video – Pending

Detecting and intervening early in the course of illness has become a mantra in the field medicine.  Psychiatry is no exception.  Nowhere has this philosophy gained as much traction as in the early intervention of schizophrenia.  The vast majority of people with schizophrenia have low grade symptoms prior to the onset of the full blown illness.  Huge progress has been made through research and clinical work attempting to identify the earliest signs of illness and learning the optimal way to help these individuals and nip the disease in the bud.  How far have we come?  Can we predict who will develop schizophrenia? Can we intervene to stop the progression?  Should we intervene?…

An excellent review from the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry provides some background on this issue.