PUBLICIDAD
Mental disorders are one leading causes of burden of disease worldwide. Current treatment modalities based on tertiary intervention have shown limited effect on decreasing this burden.
Growing scientific evidence indicates that our field should move to the more ambitious primary and secondary prevention and mental health promotion. Particularly encouraging are the results from early interventions in autism and subjects at high risk for psychosis that may change the expected trajectory to a less disabling outcome. In spite of the accumulated evidence regarding potential benefits of early detection and intervention of mental disorders, there are still few public health and clinical initiatives pursuing them, compared to other areasof medicine. We will examine available scientific data on risk factors, early detection and cost-effectiveness of early interventions in order to find potential explanations of the gap between knowledge and existing policies and clinical practices. In addition, future steps will be proposed in order to move forward in mental health prevention and promotion.