Did you know that most people won’t get mental health help because they don’t know what’s available? Hardly anyone is aware of who they should turn to when they need guidance on how to deal with a mental health condition. Regardless of how severe or debilitating it is, your condition should never be left unchecked. With that in mind, here are some of the different mental health services available to assist you on your journey:
Therapy & Counseling
Most people who undergo mental health treatment will seek some type of therapy or counselling. You can split this into a few subcategories depending on what works best for you:
- General Talk Therapy: This is where you sit down and talk to a psychiatrist about your mental health condition. You’ll discuss just about everything in your life to help find any potential causes, while also getting advice on how you can manage symptoms better. Face-to-face therapy is available, as is online therapy with insurance coverage, meaning it’s an affordable treatment choice.
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): A different type of therapy that focuses more on how you behave and perceive/react to things. CBT is popular because there’s a lot of evidence to support its efficacy, and patients tend to leave sessions feeling like they’ve accomplished something. It’s sort of like training yourself to react in a different and less harmful way when you experience symptoms. For example, you remind yourself that everything is okay and you’re not in danger if you start having an anxiety attack. Some people prefer this to just talking about their problems.
- Interpersonal Therapy (IPT): This is a lesser-known type of therapy/counseling that teaches you to improve how you socialize with others. It’s very popular among people with anxiety because social interactions tend to be a huge trigger.
Other therapy options exist and you can try different ones before settling on what gives you the best results. Worried that nothing will work? That’s completely okay – the whole point of this post is to demonstrate that you can get support in a multitude of ways. If therapy isn’t for you, then maybe one of the other options holds the answer.
Different Support Groups
You could include support groups in the therapy/counseling section because it involves a lot of the same things. You sit around with a group of people and talk about things. The crucial difference is that you’re never alone in your sessions – which some people like, and others hate.
Again, it depends on what works for you, so don’t feel pressured into attending a support group if you’d rather not be around other people.
There is a benefit to group therapy: it offers a chance for you to encounter other individuals like you. That’s this option’s greatest strength; it can be incredibly comforting to hear other people’s mental health stories and realize you’re not alone. Some people take a lot of strength when they attend group sessions and see someone who’s a lot older than they are, but has been through a similar journey and seems so much more at peace with their mental health. It becomes a case of using your peers as good examples – if they can do it, so can you.
Sound like your type of thing? Check out the National Alliance on Mental Illness to find some of their support groups near you.
Prescription Medication For Mental Health
Yes, you can get prescription meds for mental health conditions, as you can for almost any physical health concern. Some people worry when they learn about this because they’re scared about taking medication – but you absolutely do not need to. No doctor or therapist will ever force you to take something, though they will explain to you why the medication might help.
Typical types of medication include:
- Antidepressants
- Mood stabilizers
- Anti-anxiety
- Antipsychotics
You’ll be prescribed something that tackles your main mental health symptoms. Antidepressants are the most common; they work by regulating your brain chemistry and either suppressing certain hormones or promoting the secretion of others. In theory, this can balance your hormones and reduce your depressive symptoms.
Medication will never be prescribed on its own – you usually take it alongside another treatment, such as therapy. It’s also very wise to be aware of the side effects of mental health medication. You can be taken unaware when you start using a drug and experience new feelings for the first time.
It won’t be for everyone, but if you seriously struggle to gain any relief from your mental health condition, then perhaps medication will work for you.
Lifestyle Changes
Sometimes you’ll have a mental health consultation, or a one-off therapy session, and a pattern emerges. Whoever is treating you realizes that there are things in your life you’re maybe not doing, or that could be altered to try and ease your symptoms. As such, they suggest a series of lifestyle changes to see if that makes a difference.
For example:
- Exercising regularly, if you don’t normally exercise
- Changing your diet and eating healthily if all you eat is junk food
- Meditating or undergoing stress-management techniques if you’re really highly strung
- Sleep therapy to help you sleep more if you don’t get enough z’s
A therapist or doctor will support you throughout these changes to hold you accountable. While they don’t seem like groundbreaking treatment ideas, lifestyle changes often deliver the best results. It sounds really condescending when you type it out, but sometimes going to the gym and making a conscious effort to eat well can work wonders for your mental health.
Don’t Be Afraid To Get The Help You Need
Millions of people suffer in silence with mental health conditions – and doing nothing will only exacerbate the problem. You need to get some form of help, so look at the options above and consider which ones feel right to you. It’s a good idea to start with some lifestyle changes, and maybe speak to someone about therapy. You might see improvements, and you might not. If the latter is true, then you can try different support options until you find what helps you the most. There will be something, so don’t give up hope.