types of treatment
There are many different types of treatment that can help people with mental illness feel better. Once you have made a decision to seek help, you can choose from a number of helping sources, treatment approaches, and service settings. There is no “one size fits all” treatment for mental disorders.
- Psychotherapy means talking face-to-face with a mental health professional. There are many different types of psychotherapy.
- Behavioral therapy is training a person to change how s/he thinks and behaves. Stress management and relaxation training are types of behavioral therapy.
- Psychoanalysis looks at the unconscious mind, or things that you’re not really aware of, and how it affects behavior and feelings.
- Cognitive therapy identifies and corrects ways of thinking about things that cause uncomfortable feelings and behavior.
- Family therapy brings every one in the family together to discuss problems and come up with solutions.
- Group therapy brings a small group of people together with a mental health professional to discuss their problems and help each other.
- Support groups bring people with common problems together who share experiences and help each other. Support groups usually don’t have a mental health professional leading them.
- Rehabilitation programs help people regain skills and confidence to live and work more independently.
- Medication can help some people with mental illness. But before you take the medicine, ask your
doctor about:
- the risks
- the side effects
- how the medicine reacts with food, alcohol and other medicines you are taking
- the best time to take the medicine
- how long it takes before you feel the effects
- the effect of the medicine on your sexuality, memory concentration and menstrual cycle.