Mental Illness - How To Tackle It?

Mental health is as important as physical well-being, but due to the stigma attached to it, the issue has always been ignored. But long gone are the days when people used to think that mental illness is something that can never be treated. With the progress of medical science, mental illness such as depressions, stress-induced disorders or other mental issues has become very much treatable. As a number of factors can be responsible for causing mental illness, sometimes understanding or diagnosis, it may become difficult or time-consuming, but not impossible with the help of certain methods.

Typically, a psychiatrist works with a team to provide the care required. This team might include trainee psychiatrists, community psychiatric nurses, psychologists and others as applicable. Thus, they work together as a single entity to serve the purpose. And they adopt a combination of treatment methods to provide due care.

1. Prescribed medications: Considering the physical distresses that a patient may experience due to his or her mental illness, such as sleeping disorders, poor digestion or headaches, certain drugs, and medications are prescribed to patients by the psychiatrists to restore the chemical balance inside the brain that mental illness seems to alter.
2. Psychological therapies: Among the various psychological therapies, it is talking with a patient and listening to all his or her troubles is the most important one. In such therapies, the psychiatrists talk to the patient about their concerns and discuss different ways of considering and managing the same. One can go for either behavioral therapy, psychodynamic therapy, or humanistic therapy as they can help deal with certain types of mental illnesses.
3. Practical problem solving: Practical problem solving is another treatment method of psychiatry, in this, the patient plays a crucial role in planning and implementing the treatments and activities performed during the treatment sessions. This helps the psychiatrists in understanding the mental state of patients and then treating them accordingly.

Why are the treatments most effective when done together?
In several cases of mental illness, relying solely on medications or therapies may not be that effective. Whether it is for helping the patient regain the sense of control or enabling him to differentiate between reality and disillusions, joint treatment methods work best.

Mental illness is one such sensitive issue that demands a collaborative approach. To ensure good mental health, it is essential to identify the symptoms in the initial stages and address it immediately by seeking medical assistance. Though the road to cure may be a long one, with the right assistance, it can surely be achieved.