Categorising preventive interventions The Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders recommended in 1994 that prevention in psychiatry

The Institute of Medicine Committee on Prevention of Mental Disorders recommended in 1994 that prevention in psychiatry should be referred to as ‘preventive intervention’, defined as an intervention before the patient receives a diagnosis. Preventive interventions, furthermore, were categorised as ‘indicated’ (i.e. treating high-risk individuals with premorbid signs or symptoms), ‘selective’ (i.e. treating individuals with demonstrated increased risk of developing illness) and ‘universal’ (i.e. treating whole populations including all levels of risk).