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Treat Mental Illness Before It's Too Late

Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.
The Florida Channel
Leon County Judge John Cooper on June 30, 2022, in a screen grab from The Florida Channel.

Health consultant Paul Gionfriddo of Lake Worth, whose blog is "Our Health Policy Matters," writes about the many delays that people who have severe mental illness  encounter in getting early diagnosis and effective treatment.

He says it is as though patients with cancer or diabetes were being left undiagnosed and untreated until Stage 4 -- when it is too late to save them. The hope: that Medicaid expansion will bring many of those with serious mental illness into treatment at an early stage, before they become a danger to themselves or others.

Originally founded in December 2006 as an independent grassroots publication dedicated to coverage of health issues in Florida, Health News Florida was acquired by WUSF Public Media in September 2012.