Yes! There are many different ways to treat mental illness. Acknowledging you are struggling with mental health is the first step and seeking professional care is the second. Below are the different treatment options that can help cure mental illness.
Psychotherapy or Talk Therapy
This type of therapy involves meeting with a licensed professional who can assess, diagnose, and treat your mental health issue. If the professional you first select does not have experience treating your specific condition, they will refer you to someone who is better suited. Many psychologists and licensed counselors specialize in working with different populations. For example, some therapists specialize in eating disorders some specialize in grief. You would not want to go to a grief counselor for an eating disorder or vise versa. Within psychotherapy are many different treatment modalities that clinicians use to help their clients with their mental health.
Group Therapy
Group therapy involves helping people manage mental health conditions in a group setting. A mental health practitioner will work with members on a specific condition. There are many different types of group therapy. Some common ones include: psychoeducational groups, support groups, cognitive behavioral groups, interpersonal process groups, and skills development groups. Psychoeducational groups focus on educating group members about their conditions and working to identify coping skills for that condition. In support groups members share their own experiences and work on helping others in the process of giving and receiving support from the other group members. Cognitive behavioral groups focus on exploring how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect a persons belief systems and how they play a role in the specific mental health condition being addressed. Interpersonal process groups focus on interpersonal interactions and early life experiences and subconscious beliefs that influence behaviors. Finally, skills development groups focus on developing the skills needed to cope with the mental health conditions they are facing.
Self-Care
The World Health Organization described self care to be "the ability of individuals, families, and communities to promote health, prevent disease, maintain health, and to cope with illness and disability with or without the support of a healthcare provider." I define self care as the routine actions you take each day to fill yourself up in different aspects of your life. This involves checking in with yourself to assess what you did for your emotional, physical, and spiritual well being.
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes can be anything from changes in nutrition, schedule, work life balance, habits, social groups, boundary settings, and so much more. Making small changes in this area is likely to improve your overall mental health.
Comments