An Overview of Primary Prevention

The historical antecedents of primary prevention are found in the methods of public health, counseling, and psychotherapy. Primary prevention is defined as being proactive and is aimed predominantly at high‐risk groups not yet affected by the condition to be prevented. Its success is measured in a decline in the incidence of a condition that is compared with controls. Only through prevention can we reduce incidence, and it seems that it is the only feasible way to deal with the unbridgeable gap between the enormous number of individuals at risk for emotional disturbance and the limited availability of treatment resources.