JAMAICA – Mental health challenges in youth need early detection and urgent attention, says Gullotta.  Human rights advocate Maria Carla Gullotta is calling for a robust system of detecting mental illness among young people in Jamaica before they get to a stage where their condition is difficult to address.

Gullotta, executive director of Stand Up for Jamaica (SUFJ), issued the call on Wednesday, days after SUFJ, in collaboration with the Public Law Chambers, released a report titled ‘Breaking Barriers: An Inclusive Approach to Mental Illness’. The report argued that there are a number of pillars which must exist if mental illness in citizens is to be managed properly. The pillars include prevention, early assessment, rehabilitation, and inclusion. The report stated that prevention of various types of mental illnesses helps to keep the condition from becoming dramatic, and Gullotta argued that early assessment of children helps to detect the specific types of mental illnesses children have. “There are many types and they have symptoms. Early assessment helps to locate where the disease is based. Rehabilitation is the way of addressing the problem and trying to reduce it and allowing the person to remain in his community and with his family, but there must be a robust system to assist the family. There must be a network around the family,” she said. (Jamaicaobserver/Photo: Jason Cross)