B4Stage4

For the past several months, I've been traveling around the country for Mental Health America.

I have been delivering two messages.  The first is that it was a mistake to use a "danger to self or others" standard as a trigger to treatment for people with serious mental illnesses.  Because this has made mental illnesses the only chronic diseases we wait until Stage 4 to treat, and then often only through incarceration.

The second is that if we are to treat people with mental illnesses the same way we treat people with other chronic conditions, we have to act before Stage 4.  We have to start with prevention and then invest in early identification and intervention.  We have to integrate health, behavioral health, and other services.  And we have to give people an opportunity to recover at all stages in the disease process.

May is Mental Health Month. Since 1949, it has been a signature program of Mental Health America, formerly known as the National Mental Health Association.

This year's theme is B4Stage4.  It succinctly gets the message across that we need to turn our attention upstream if we're going to prevent tragic outcomes, and if we're going to change the trajectories of people's lives for the better.

By May 1, more than 3,500 organizations had downloaded MHA's materials to share with others - and many more have downloaded them since.  That's no surprise.  We've had millions of social media impressions with #B4Stage4, and advocates around the country are rallying to its simple and straightforward message.

Mental Health Month materials are available free of charge here, and help explain the importance of B4Stage4 thinking - and action.  They are available in English and Spanish, and there are videos and infographics that go along with them.

It's no secret why this matters to me.  I've had too many all-too-personal experiences with Stage 4 thinking.  It has cost a lot of people like my son Tim the opportunity to lead happy and productive lives.

And we can do a whole lot better than we have in the past - if we're willing to try.

Order a copy of Paul's book, Losing Tim, from your local or online bookstore or directly from Mental Health America.  Read more of Paul's occasional blogs at the MHA website, at Health Affairs, or at Psychology Today.