Trumbull officials to announce schizophrenia program
Staff report
WARREN
Mental health officials will announce Friday morning the start of FIRST Trumbull County, a comprehensive team-based early identification and treatment program for people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders.
The announcement will be 9 a.m. at the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board, 4076 Youngstown Road SE.
Partners in the program are the mental health and recovery board, Valley Counseling Services, Inc., Compass Family & Community Services, and the Best Practices in Schizophrenia Treatment Center in the Department of Psychiatry at Northeast Ohio Medical University.
“This is the first program of its kind in Trumbull County,” said April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board. “We are grateful to the residents of Trumbull County that we have the match money through our levy to begin this initiative.”
Schizophrenia is generally characterized by hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that others do not), delusions (firmly held false beliefs, such as paranoia), disordered thinking, limited emotional expression, problems with attention and sometimes memory loss.
Any one between the ages of 15 and 40 who is experiencing these symptoms and/or who has been on an antipsychotic medication for less than 18 months may contact Paul Bolino of Valley Counseling, FIRST Trumbull County team leader, at 330-518-3597 to learn more about FIRST Trumbull County.
FIRST Trumbull County treatment services are based at Valley Counseling, 150 East Market Street, Suite 100, in Warren.
“It is very important that people understand that schizophrenia is a treatable mental illness. A combination of medications and psychosocial therapies can relieve or reduce many of its symptoms,” said Dr. Mark R. Munetz of The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at NEOMED.
“Unfortunately, it often takes many months or even years before a diagnosis is made and treatment begins. Research suggests that intervening as soon as possible following an initial episode of psychosis can lessen its severity and promote a faster, more complete recovery,” adds Munetz.