Twenty years have passed since early intervention in psychiatry has become a focus in Japan and other countries, and early detection and treatment were reported to be essential for improving the prognosis. In particular, intensive functional rehabilitation during the critical period of treatment is needed for 2 to 5 years after the onset of psychosis in order to reduce the impact on brain structure by shortening the duration of untreated psychosis. Although some countries and regions have developed strong, integrated approaches for implementing early intervention, few countries have extensive early intervention programs, including Japan. In this essay, the author investigated the possibilities for developing and implementing early intervention in psychiatry.
 Promoting mental health literacy to an entire nation takes time. The revised form of the National Curriculum Standards scheduled for 2022 states that it is necessary for students to be led to understand measures for preventing the development of and promoting recovery from mental illness. This type of universal prevention approach, i. e., teaching mental health and illness via public education, is innovative and has the potential to develop mental health literacy. To reduce the stigma of mental illness, it is necessary to bridge schools and communities, and to engender comprehension of mental health among professionals in education as well as medical services. It is important that teachers are involved in changing the attitudes of both their fellow teachers and parents toward mental health issues.
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