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Treatment
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No single treatment for a mental disorder is appropriate for everyone. The best types of treatment programs provide a combination of therapies
and other services to meet the
needs of the individual.
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Mental Health Treatments |
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These are the treatment methods most commonly used by mental health professionals:
Behavioral Therapy: This approach focuses on concrete behavior - changing unwanted or maladaptive behaviors through rewards, reinforcements, and desensitization. This approach has been found
especially effective in treating phobias.
Biomedical Treatment: Medication alone, or in combination with psychotherapy, has proven to be an effective treatment for a number of emotional, behavioral, and mental disorders. The five major
categories of mental health medication include Lithium and other mood stabilizers,
anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, anti-depressant, and stimulant medications.
Cognitive Therapy: This method aims to identify and correct distorted thinking patterns that can lead to feelings and behaviors that may be troublesome, self-defeating, or even self-destructive.
Cognitive/Behavioral Therapy: As a combination of cognitive and behavioral therapies, this approach helps people change negative thought patterns, beliefs, and behaviors. This is one of the most
effective approaches to treating depression and anxiety disorders.
Complementary/Alternative Approaches: These emphasize the relationship between mind, body, and spirit. Techniques include self-help
groups, diet adjustment, pastoral counseling, expressive therapies,
medication, massage, biofeedback, or exercise.
Couples of Family Counseling: This approach utilizes the strengths and resources of families to help individuals and family members deal with the consequences of mental illness and emotional distress.
Electroconvulsive Therapy: (ECT) This highly controversial technique uses low voltage electrical stimulation of the brain to treat some forms of major depression, acute manias, and
some forms of schizophrenia. This potentially lifesaving technique is generally considered only when other approaches have failed.
Family Therapy: This approach, based on a systems perspective, utilizes the strength of families to lessen the impact of mental illness. Therapy involves discussions and problem-solving sessions
facilitated
by a therapist, often with the entire family.
Group Therapy: This form of therapy involves groups of usually 4 to 12 people who have similar problems and who meet regularly with a therapist.
Interpersonal Psychotherapy: Through one-on-one conversations, this approach focuses on the patient's current life and relationships within the family, social and work environments.
Play Therapy: Used with young children, this technique employs a variety of play activities to establish communication with the therapist and resolve problems. Children are encouraged to act out
their conflicts and fears in an imaginative way.
Psychoanalysis: This focuses on past conflicts as the underpinnings to current emotional and behavioral problems. In this long-term and intensive therapy, an individual meets with a psychoanalyst
three to five times a week, using "free association" to reveal unconscious motivations and earlier unproductive patterns of resolving issues.
Psychodynamic Psychotherapy: Based on the principles of psychoanalysis, this therapy typically occurs once a week and spans a shorter time than psychoanalysis.
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Drug Addiction Treatment |
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Treatment varies with the characteristics of the patient and type of substances abused. It may involve counseling,
behavioral therapies, medications, or a combination of both, and attendance at Narcotics-Anonymous meetings. Drugs such as Methadone and levo-alpha-acetylmethodol (LAAM) help reduce drug use in
addictions to
opiates. For some opiate addicts and some with co-occurring alcohol dependence, Naltrexone may be effective. Individuals with co-existing mental disorders must have both disorders treated
in an integrated way. Relapses are not uncommon. |
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Alcoholism Treatment |
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Treatment depends on the severity of an individual's alcoholism and the resources available in his or her community. Treatment may include
detoxification (safely getting alcohol out of one's system); taking doctor-prescribed medications, such as disulfiram (Antabuseâ) or naltrexone (ReViaTM) to help prevent a return to drinking; and
individual and/or group counseling. Virtually all alcoholism treatment programs also include a twelve-step recovery program, such as Alcoholics Anonymous. |
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