Insight teams

Insight Early Intervention in Psychosis Teams work with young people aged 14 and above who are experiencing psychosis for the first time. There are four Insight teams within South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust and they offer a service to individuals who are experiencing signs of psychosis, or showing signs that there is a potential risk of psychosis developing.

Each team has a manager, Community Psychiatric Nurses (CPNs), social workers, Approved Mental Health Professionals (AMHPs), Support Time Recovery (STR) Workers, secretaries and also input from Clinical Psychologists, Doctors and Pharmacists.

The teams are based in Barnsley, Calderdale, Kirklees and Wakefield.

The Insight teams aim to improve the long-term outcomes for people experiencing psychosis, by early detection of psychotic experiences and providing an accessible and flexible approach. Support can include psychological interventions, medication, social interventions, support to maintain or get back into work or education, and also support and information for the family as a whole.

Insight can also help young people who have experienced psychosis but who also have problems with drugs or alcohol or who have been in trouble with the police.

What do we mean by psychosis?

It is normal for any of us to have strange experiences now and then, like hearing noises when we're very tired or seeing things out of the corner of our eye. However, when we experience psychosis other things can develop; the following is a list of the types of thing that can happen.

The experience of psychosis is very individual so any combination of these or other experiences might be present. Of great importance is how the experience makes the individual feel.

  • We might feel like we've changed in some way, or developed some special powers
  • We might be aware that our thoughts might not be working as well as usual, and we also might begin to worry that thoughts are being put into or taken out of our head by someone or something else
  • We might worry that everyone around us can hear our thoughts
  • We might think that newspapers, television or the radio has specific meaning for us or is written directly for us
  • We might be hearing, seeing, tasting, smelling or physically feeling things that other people can't
  • We might also be worrying about things in a way that is out of character for us, like worrying we’re being watched or followed, or that there is some kind of conspiracy against us
  • We might feel like we are somebody different, perhaps somebody famous
  • We might have lost our energy, interest in the world or experience flattened emotions
  • We may withdraw from our social, work or family life

As you can imagine it makes sense that some of these experiences can be at times frightening, but equally some might be exciting.

Psychosis is complex, and there is no agreed way of identifying the cause of it for everybody. One way to see it is as a combination of genetic factors and life experiences, whether these experiences are recent or longer ago.

Getting help

If you think the Insight teams could help you, give them a call on the numbers below. You may also be referred to the Insight teams through any NHS or social service including GPs, health visitors, school nurses, youth offending teams or substance misuse services.

To get in touch call the Insight team for the area you live in call:

  • Barnsley 01226 434224
  • Kirklees (Dewsbury) 01924 516162
  • Kirklees (Huddersfield) 01484 640158
  • Wakefield 01977 465820
  • Calderdale 01422 383062

Page last reviewed on 05 January 2011