Melbourne criteria

The Melbourne Criteria for the identification of individuals with what has become known as At Risk Mental State (ARMS), and so prone to later developing psychosis or schizophrenia, were developed at the Personal Assessment and Crisis Evaluation clinic in Melbourne, Australia. They have been widely adopted in the UK by Early intervention in psychosis teams (EIP) as well as in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAHMS)

The Criteria
The criteria have been outlined by Yung et al, 2008


 * Trait and State Risk Factor group - individual diagnosed with schiztypal personality disorder or has a first degree relative with a psychotic disorder.
 * Attenuated Psychosis group - indivdual has experienced sub-threshold positive psychotic symptoms ((ie symptoms not severe enough or frequent enough to be deemed psychotic)
 * Brief Limited Intermittent Psychotic Symptom group - individual has experienced full psychotic symptoms that have not lasted longer than a week and have spontaneously abated

On the basis of these criteria people can be offered appropriate preventative interventions,