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Mental illness: Overview of treatment options Mental illness might sometimes seem like an unbearable burden, but treatment can help. Of the many treatment options available, the most common are psychotherapy and medications. Sometimes different types of treatment are combined to boost their effectiveness. The treatments best suited for your needs depend on such factors as the type of mental illness you have, how long you've had it, other medical issues, previous treatments, personal preferences and even cost and insurance coverage. Talk to your doctor about which options are best for you. Here's an overview of different types of treatment for mental illness. PsychotherapyPsychotherapy is a general term for a way of treating mental and emotional disorders by talking about your condition and related issues with a mental health professional. It's also known as talk therapy, counseling or psychosocial therapy. Through these talk sessions, you'll learn about the causes of your condition so you can better understand it. You'll also learn how to identify and make changes in troubling behavior or thoughts, explore relationships and experiences, find better ways to cope and solve problems, and set realistic goals for your life. Psychotherapy can help you regain a sense of happiness and control in your life and help alleviate symptoms caused by mental illness, such as hopelessness and anger. Treatment can be short term, lasting just a couple of sessions over a few weeks, or it can take many sessions over several years. Psychotherapy can take place in individual, couples, family or group sessions. There are many types of psychotherapy. Among them: Behavior therapy. Behavior therapy focuses on changing unwanted or unhealthy behaviors, typically using a system of rewards, reinforcements of positive behavior, and desensitization. Desensitization is a process of confronting something that causes anxiety, fear or discomfort and overcoming those responses. If you have a fear of germs that prompts you to excessively wash your hands, for instance, you might be trained in ways to stop the excessive washing. Cognitive therapy. This type of therapy is designed to help you identify and correct distorted thought (cognitive) patterns that can lead to feelings and behaviors that are troublesome, self-defeating or self-destructive. It's based on the premise that how you interpret your experiences in life determines the way you feel and behave. If you're depressed, for instance, you might see yourself and your experiences in negative ways, which adds to the symptoms of depression. Like behavior therapy, cognitive therapy focuses on your current problems to alleviate symptoms, rather than addressing underlying or past conflicts. Unlike behavior therapy, however, your experiences are an important part of the cognitive therapy process. Cognitive-behavioral therapy. This type of talk therapy combines features of both cognitive and behavior therapy to identify unhealthy, negative beliefs and behaviors and replace them with healthy, positive ones. It's based on the idea that your own thoughts not other people or situations determine how you behave. Even if an unwanted situation has not changed, you can change the way you think and behave in a positive way. Creative art therapy. This type of therapy uses the creative process to help people who might have difficulty expressing their thoughts and feelings. Creative arts can help you increase self-awareness, cope with symptoms and traumatic experiences, and foster positive changes. Creative art therapy includes art, dance and movement, drama, music and even poetry. Dialectical behavior therapy. This is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy whose primary objective is to teach behavioral skills to help you tolerate stress, regulate your emotions and improve your relationships with others. It was designed for people with borderline personality disorder, who often have suicidal behavior. But it has been adapted for other conditions, too, including people with eating disorders or substance abuse issues. It's derived, in part, from a philosophical process called dialectics, in which seemingly contradictory facts or ideas are weighed against each other to come up with a resolution or balance. For instance, you might learn about accepting who you are while at the same time making changes in your thoughts and behaviors. Exposure therapy. This is a form of behavior therapy that deliberately exposes you to the very thing that you find upsetting or disturbing. It's especially useful for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder or post-traumatic stress disorder. Under controlled circumstances, exposure to the event or things that triggers your obsessive thoughts or traumatic reactions can help you learn to cope with them and work through the traumas. Interpersonal therapy. This approach focuses on your current relationships with other people. The goal is to improve your interpersonal skills how you relate to others, including family, friends and colleagues. You'll learn how to evaluate the way you interact with others and develop strategies for dealing with relationship and communication problems. Play therapy. This type of therapy is geared for young children at specific development levels. It uses a variety of techniques, including playing with dolls or toys, painting or other activities. These techniques allow children to more easily express emotions and feelings if they lack the cognitive development to express themselves with words. Psychoanalysis. In this therapeutic approach, you examine memories, events and feelings from the past to understand current feelings and behavior. It's based on the theory that childhood events and biological urges create an unconscious mind that drives how you think, feel and behave. In this therapy, you explore those unconscious motivations to help make changes to improve your life. You might also do dream analysis and free association talking about whatever happens to come to mind. This is a long-term, intensive therapy and often involves several sessions a week with a psychoanalyst for several years. In formal psychoanalysis, you lay on a couch and the therapist sits unseen behind you. It evolved out of theories developed by Sigmund Freud. Psychodynamic psychotherapy. This type of therapy, based on the theories of psychoanalysis, focuses on increasing your awareness of unconscious thoughts and behaviors, developing new insights about your motivations, and resolving conflicts to live a happier life. It's one of the most common types of psychotherapy. It's less intense than psychoanalysis and is usually done sitting face to face with a therapist. It's also less frequent usually once a week and is shorter term, usually a year or less. It includes a variety of therapeutic techniques, such as exploring your past, confronting your beliefs and actions, offering support, and interpreting your thoughts and behavior. That process allows you to become aware of and acknowledge the link between a feeling, thought, symptom or behavior and an unconscious meaning or motivator. With that new understanding, you can modify unwanted behavior or thoughts. Psychoeducation. This approach focuses on teaching you and sometimes family and friends about your illness. Psychoeducation explores possible treatments, coping strategies and problem-solving skills. You might learn about resources in your community, such as support groups. You can also learn about symptoms that might indicate a potential relapse so you can take steps to get appropriate treatment. It can be especially useful for people with chronic or severe illnesses, such as schizophrenia.
MedicationsMedications can be an effective treatment for mental illness. Although they don't cure mental illness, medications can control symptoms and improve your coping abilities, which can help reduce the severity of your condition. A variety of psychiatric medications are available. Among them are: Antidepressants. These medications are used to treat various forms of depression. There are several types of antidepressants, grouped by how they affect brain chemistry. These include the newer selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and the older monoamine oxidase inhibitors. They may also help improve symptoms in other disorders. Mood stabilizers. These medications are generally taken to help treat bipolar disorder, which is characterized by swings in mood between depression and mania. The medications work by balancing out such mood swings. Anti-anxiety medications. Although antidepressants can also help improve anxiety, some medications that specifically target anxiety can work more quickly to relieve symptoms, often within 30 to 90 minutes. These medications have two major drawbacks: They don't improve depression and they can become habit-forming. Antipsychotics. These medications, also called neuroleptics, are typically used to treat psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia. They may also be used to treat severe cases of depression accompanied by psychosis. Like psychotherapy, medication treatment can be short term or long term. Because there are so many medications to choose from, you might have to try several different medications before finding the one that works best for you. Which one or which combination might be best depends on your illness, your symptoms and their severity, other medical issues, possible side effects, lifestyle, cost and personal preference. You might benefit most from a combination of psychotherapy and medication. Studies indicate that treating chronically depressed people with an antidepressant plus psychotherapy can be more effective than either medication or counseling alone. Certain herbal and dietary supplements, such as St. John's wort, have also been used to treat mental illness. Because there's little concrete data about their effectiveness, safety and interaction with other medications, consult your doctor before taking any supplements.
Other medical treatmentsYour doctor might also recommend: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). During ECT, a small amount of electrical current is delivered to your brain through electrodes, producing a seizure that usually lasts 30 to 60 seconds. Doctors believe that chemical aspects of brain functioning are altered during and after this seizure activity. When ECT is administered on a regular basis, these chemical changes build upon one another, reducing symptoms. ECT can be an effective treatment for severe depression, especially when other treatments have failed or when you need immediate results and can't wait for medications to begin working. It remains controversial because of negative perceptions and the possibility of side effects, including memory impairment. Light therapy. In this type of therapy also known as phototherapy you spend time bathed in light from a full-spectrum light source, called a light box. It's designed for people with seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression that seems to be related to fluctuations in exposure to natural light. SAD usually begins in autumn and can last through the winter. Phototherapy can help reduce symptoms by mimicking natural light in a way not possible with regular light bulbs.
Complementary and alternative treatmentsNontraditional therapies also might be useful in treating mental illness. They can help you respond to signals from your own body and learn new, healthy ways to cope with feelings and behaviors that mental illness can trigger. Biofeedback. Biofeedback teaches you to control body functions, such as muscle tension or brain wave patterns. Electrodes and other sensors on your body monitor your responses to stimuli and give you visual or auditory feedback that enables you to control how your body reacts. Biofeedback can help ease tension and anxiety and improve concentration. Guided imagery. This is a type of focused relaxation that encourages you to create calming, peaceful images in your mind. It can help reduce stress, anxiety, panic and uncertainty feelings often associated with mental illness. Hypnosis. This technique leads you into a deep state of relaxation in which your mind stays narrowly focused and you're open to suggestion. It can be a powerful means of directing your imagination to control physical response to stress and pain, manage certain symptoms of mental illness, and to stop unwanted habits, such as smoking.
Meeting your needsThe therapeutic process can be daunting and uncomfortable, especially in the beginning. But within a few weeks, you should begin to see an improvement in your symptoms, including relief from distress, better decision-making abilities, improved relationships and new coping skills. If that's not happening, talk to your doctor. You might not be getting the right kind of treatment for your situation. Treatment must be tailored to an individual, if results aren't what you hoped for or you don't feel right about the treatment, get a second opinion. Therapy is not a one-size-fits-all treatment. With so many different types of treatment available, you and your health care provider can sort through the options and work toward improving the quality of your life.
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