By Courtney Reyers, NAMI Publications Manager A 2010
groundbreaking study by Paul Amminger and his team in Vienna,
Austria found that fish oil (omega-3 can help prevent psychosis
in individuals with schizophrenia. Two years later, researchers
and mental health professionals around the world are starting to
replicate that study to see if we can help prevent mental
illness before it starts. Today, there is a multi-country study
going on in Europe looking at the effects that omega-3 fatty
acids (found in fish oil, among other things) have on the brain
when it comes to psychosis. Additionally, in the U.S. and
Canada, Dr. Barbara Cornblatt (founder of the Recognition and
Prevention Program (RAP) and a recipient of the 2003 NAMI
Research Award) is collaborating with several other
investigators to determine whether omega-3 fatty acids could
potentially prevent onset of psychosis and improve clinical
symptoms and functional outcome in youth and young adults who
are at elevated risk for schizophrenia and other mental