John Horrelt, president of the P.E.I. branch of the Canadian Mental Health Association, says early diagnosis can help people with mental illness. (CBC)

The P.E.I. government says it plans to put more focus on mental health, even as the province loses one of its psychiatrists.

On Tuesday, the Mental Health Commission released a national strategy. The commission said mental health services have been underfunded and government policies and programs need an overhaul.

Some of the recommendations include finding more ways to fight the stigma of mental illness, providing more opportunities for promotion and prevention and increasing mental health initiatives in schools and workplaces.

"Over the years the acute care aspect of health care has gotten a lot of attention. And so we need to step back, we need to look at mental health and addiction services in the province and look at ways we can be better and provide better access in a timely fashion to the services that are needed for Islanders," said Doug Currie, P.E.I. Minister of Health and Wellness.

The strategy is good news for those who work in the field.

"If you can get somebody, someone with poor mental health, and you can get them at the early stages in their diagnosis, there's much better chance of recovery, and lifelong recovery," said John Horrelt, P.E.I. president of the Canadian Mental Health Association.

This week, the CMHA is handing out daisies as part of an awareness campaign.

"When it bends over in the wind, it comes back up," said Horrelt, speaking about the daisy. "And when it rains hard on it, it might bend as well, but it has that resilience. And that really is what the struggle is with mental health, too ,right?"

P.E.I. will also be going though an independent review of mental health services, after the auditor general's report showed improvements are needed.

At the same time, P.E.I. is losing one of its psychiatrists. Dr. Shabbir Amanullah has been working primarily with older Islanders.

Health PEI said it is recruiting for a new psychiatrist.