Psychiatric interventions for prevention of mental disorders. A psychosocial perspective.

Technology for psychiatric prevention is poorly developed, and knowledge about the causes of mental illness is difficult to apply to practical preventive work. As it would take many years before the effects of primary preventive efforts would be visible, secondary and tertiary prevention are essential to reducing the prevalence of mental illness. Recent studies on reducing the negative health consequences of acute stress seem to justify some optimism that psychosocially-oriented prevention is possible. Experience with the preventive benefits of social support at times of crisis suggests that active social support can prevent social disintegration at the community level and mental health problems for individuals.