Introducing Specialty Care for thought disorders

In the United States there are an estimated 100,000 new cases of psychosis each year. As a result approximately 3% of the population will experience an episode of psychosis in their lifetime, with a quarter of those living with a chronic psychosis illness (e.g. schizophrenia). Even ignoring the emotional cost, the economic burden is staggering. It is estimated that schizophrenia, and related illnesses, cost the U.S. an estimated $281.6 billion in 2020, with a significant amount of direct costs due to health care, incarceration, lost wages, supportive housing, etc. This amounts to a total lifetime cost to the economy of approximately $3.8 million or $92,000 per year for each person diagnosed with schizophrenia at age 25.

These symptoms tend to onset in genetic males during the period from late adolescence into early adulthood (15-25), while females may not experience first symptoms until much later. Signs of these illnesses can include trouble with reality testing, paranoia, hallucinations, delusions, disorganization, odd behavior or thinking, isolating, emotional changes, and difficulty with work or school. Individuals first experiencing these symptoms are often frightened, confused and struggling to understand what is happening to them. They also present unique challenges to family members and clinical providers, including irrational behavior, aggression against self or others, difficulties communicating and relating, and conflicts with authority figures. Impaired awareness of illness (anosognosia), or willingness to accept it, may be an additional complicating factor.

We know that major changes in your thinking or perception of the world around can make you feel afraid, hopeless, and confused. The presence of these symptoms can derail a person’s social, academic, and vocational development and initiate a trajectory of accumulating disability. However, prompt, uninterrupted psychosocial and pharmacological management is the best predictor of achieving a full functional recovery. Unfortunately, many people with new onset thought disorders do not get proper treatment is because coordinated specialty care is simply not available. California OnTrack is here to change that.

We strive to engage people in treatment as quickly as possible after the onset of symptoms because shorter durations of untreated psychosis predict better long-term recovery and satisfaction in life. In fact, our program can benefit younger adults experiencing the first signs signs (prodrome), but not full symptoms, of an oncoming thought disorder. On the other end of the spectrum, our program offers hope to relapsed individuals across the full natural history of their illness because in all too many cases prompt treatment was not available at the onset of symptoms.

Our mission at California OnTrack is to help those living with psychosis create the best life worth living, but we also know that with prompt, proper care you can get better, much better. We accomplish this by offering highly-specialized, recovery-oriented treatment to persons struggling with the onset of a thought disorder like Schizophrenia, Schizoaffective, Bipolar-I (Mania with Psychotic Features) or Cannabis-induced psychosis (CIP).