Table of Contents
Defining the Issue
Risks of Avoiding Treatment
Does Treatment Work?
Final Thoughts

Mental Health Treatment

The term “mental illness” is often used to describe a wide range of disorders, from substance abuse to depression to schizophrenia. It can be difficult to discuss all of these conditions in general terms, when each condition comes with its own specific set of risk factors, disease progression and treatment. When researching all mental health disorders, however, one thing becomes clear – these illnesses are surprisingly common.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), one in 17 American adults lives with a serious mental disorder in a given year. A larger number of adults may experience a less chronic form of mental illness within that same year, and many children and adolescents can also experience mental illness. This is not a disease that discriminates based on age, gender or race.

Even though the diseases are so common, people who have mental illnesses often don’t get the treatment they deserve. If they do come out into the open and ask for help, they face discrimination and taunting. And in some cases, the mental illnesses are so debilitating that the people aren’t well enough to even express the need for help. This is the true shame of mental illness, as many of these diseases can be treated quite effectively.

Defining the Issue

Current research suggests that mental illness comes about through a combination of genetics and environment. Some mental illnesses seem to run in families, with many people falling prey to the disease generation after generation, but some people seem to avoid the illnesses. It could be that they weren’t exposed to just the right trigger to bring the disease about, or it could be that they received one mutant gene from one parent, and that mutation had a protective effect. More research on this is ongoing.

According to an article published in the online journal World of Psychology, these are the most common mental health disorders affecting Americans today:

Anxiety disorders
Substance abuse disorders
Impulse control disorders
Mood disorders

In some cases, these disorders appear during adolescence, and their symptoms are dramatic and hard to ignore. In other cases, these disorders appear late in life and are ignored or passed off as a “normal” consequence of aging.

Mental Health Topics

Risks of Avoiding Treatment

Left untreated, mental health disorders can have a huge impact. People who have untreated mental illnesses may lose their jobs, become homeless, see their doctors for unrelated problems or enter the criminal justice system. According to NAMI, the cost of untreated mental illness in the United States is more than 100 billion dollars each year.

Suicide is also a serious risk for people who have mental illness. When people do not receive the help they need, they may begin to feel hopeless and helpless, and suicide seems like a realistic method to use to make the pain stop. According to an article published by the University of Washington School of Social Work:

Statistics

Two to 15 percent of people with depression die of suicide.
Three to 20 percent of people with bipolar disorder die of suicide.
Six to 15 percent of people with schizophrenia die of suicide.
People with personality disorders are three times more likely to die of suicide than people who do not have the disorders.

Sadly, many people who contemplate suicide see their doctors for help before they commit the act, and in those visits, they don’t get the help they need. According to a study published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, 51 percent of the people who had committed suicide had seen their doctors within the previous month. It’s clear that people knew something was wrong, but perhaps they didn’t have the vocabulary to express their mental state clearly and directly.

Does Treatment Work?

Many people continue to believe that people with mental illnesses are doomed to live a life of gloom and despair. The fact is that therapy is often quite effective in helping people recover. NAMI reports that 70 to 90 percent of people who seek help for their mental illnesses have a significant reduction in symptoms and an improved quality of life when they’re able to access the proper type of therapy.

It’s important to point out that mental illnesses cannot be truly “cured.” Mental illnesses are considered chronic conditions that must be managed throughout the person’s life. There’s no real way for doctors, therapists or pharmacists to stop a mental illness from returning. But, therapies can help the person keep symptoms under control. Through therapy, people with mental illnesses can return to work, have meaningful relationships, raise children and live fulfilling lives. Some people may have to take medications and participate in therapies for the rest of their lives in order to achieve this success, however. The proper treatment often involves three steps: learning, empowerment and acting.

Learning
Empowerment
Acting

Step One: Learning

People who have mental illnesses need to learn more about their conditions. Often, this is considered the primary role of the patient/doctor relationship. In therapy sessions, doctors talk at length with the person and uncover thought patterns that might be contributing to disease. The therapist also explains why certain thoughts or patterns of behavior are simply part of the disease process. People who are diagnosed with diabetes often go through the same process with their doctors. Since they’re expected to manage the disease, they need to know how the disease works, and develop strategies to help them control the disease on their own. People with mental illnesses also need this sort of training.

Medications may also play a role during this learning process. The person might be asked to take medications to ease symptoms, and then as the medications begin to take hold, the person might be asked to rate how well those medications are working. Medications for mental illness can be given in a wide range of dosages, and the patient and the doctor must work closely together to find the right level. The patient must also learn why these medications are so important, and why they must adhere to the therapy. This is an important lesson, particularly for people who will need to remain on medications for the rest of their lives in order to keep their diseases under control.

Sometimes, patients choose to stop treatment when they have learned the fundamentals and have begun taking medications. According to a study published in the journal Medical Care, 22 percent of people leave their treatment programs prematurely. It could be that these people feel better and simply don’t feel as though they need any more help. It could also be that people stop participating in treatment due to other issues.

A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry suggests that facilities are shortening inpatient stays for mental illness. Between 1990 and 2000, the median length of stay declined by 63 percent. For many people, a visit to an inpatient program begins their mental health treatment. When that program ends, they may mistakenly believe that they are healed. If that treatment program is quite short, the patients may not have developed the skills they need to help them complete subsequent recovery steps. In fact, they may not believe they need any more treatment whatsoever. These people are at risk for a relapse or an augmentation of their mental illness.

Step Two: Empowerment

In this stage of treatment, the person with mental illness begins to take charge of his or her health. The formal inpatient treatment program might end, for example, and the person might try to live at home and put the lessons to use in the real world. The person being treated on an outpatient basis might move from having one appointment per week to having one appointment per month. This can be a risky time, but it can also be quite beneficial for the person with mental illness. Here, they’re being asked to take charge and take control, and this can seem a powerful statement of support. Some people with mental illnesses might also return to work or school, and they might look for new and supportive friends who can help support them during this difficult time. Some people may feel hopeful about their disease for the first time, and they may be motivated to do even more.

Step Three: Acting

As people continue to recover, they may benefit from participating in support groups with other people who have mental illness. Addiction groups such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous are well known, but there are other community groups forming that provide support to people with all sorts of mental illnesses. The benefit of participating in these groups is twofold: the person gets support from peers, and the person provides support to peers. Often, this second aspect can be a powerful tool for recovery. When the person learns to help others, he or she may feel stronger and more secure as well. Some mental illness support groups even encourage members to work as mentors to new people that enter the group. These relationships can be powerful and uplifting.

The idea of support groups for mental illness is a bit new, and researchers have been looking closely at the model to make sure it works. One study published in the journal Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice found that peer support groups did seem to improve quality of life. Another study published in the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal found that mental illness support groups held by churches were also effective. It’s clear that many people are looking for ways to provide support groups for the mentally ill, since the model seems to be effective, and this is a trend that is likely to continue.

Final Thoughts

Treating mental illness in this stepped-up approach may be time consuming, but it’s certainly worthwhile. People who have these devastating diseases need help in order to improve, and programs that allow them to understand the disease, take charge of it and then help others may be just the right sort of help they need. Unfortunately, not all programs offer this sort of help. In fact, according to another study published in the journal Medical Care, only 35 percent of people studied received both counseling and medications. It’s unclear how many of these people were even offered support groups. Since care discrepancies are this wide, families need to examine each option carefully before they choose a mental health provider. There’s a lot on the line here, and families need to make sure they receive the right sort of help at the right time.