Persons with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness (SPMI)

Individuals who have a mental illness may experience a crisis when he/she experiences internal or external environmental change.  These changes may be anything from the vacation of a support person to a physical illness.  These changes can either decrease the person’s ability to cope or increase their symptoms.  Sometimes both occur and the person finds themselves in a state of crisis.

In addition, many mental illnesses have a cyclical component.  Symptoms may become more intense as a general course of the illness rather than as a result of external factors.  This may also reach crisis proportions for a person with a mental illness.

As with any person experiencing a crisis, the responder must assist in identifying the problem areas, developing and implementing a plan and providing follow up services.
The plan for a person who suffers from a mental illness may include medication evaluation and/or changes if the person’s symptoms are interfering with his/her ability to maintain safety, think, concentrate and/or function.