Initiative 1

BLOOM (Behavioral development, Long-term Outcomes and Opportunities to optimize youth Mental health trajectories) is the Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health’s (CEYMH) flagship prevention program at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute. The BLOOM project develops scalable, individualized prevention resources for youth and families. BLOOM is a research program that aims to better understand the onset of mental issues in young people in order to help prevent them and improve access to specialized care.  75% of mental health disorders begin before age 25, with peak onset at age 15. Prevention is crucial, as most mental illnesses lack a cure.  The goal of the BLOOM project is to predict and prevent 7 major youth mental health issues (substance use, eating disorders, OCD, ADHD, depression, psychosis, and bipolar disorder). Their approach is to create a cohort of 560 youth (ages 9-25) and their families to track factors that impact mental health over 5+ years.

​​​​​​The Douglas Foundation website

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