The Different Forms of Mental Illness Treatments

There are three contributors to mental illness and each has its own form of treatment. These contributors include Biological, Psychological, and Social which were written about in-depth in the Causes of mental illness and their diagnosis technique. Below are the treatment measures to use.

So, for Biological factors treatments, they are traditionally divided into four categories

• Antipsychotic drugs or neuroleptics, used to treat psychosis.
• Antidepressant drugs used to treat depression.
• Anti maniac drugs, or mood stabilizers used to treat bipolar disorder.
• Anxiolytics, used to treat anxious states

Psychological factors treatments are also called psychotherapies. Psychotherapy can be defined (modified from Wolberg) as, the treatment by psychological means, of the problems of an emotional nature, in which a therapist deliberately establishes a professional relationship with the patient to,

1. Remove, modify or retard existing symptoms,
2. Mediate disturbed patterns of behaviour, and/or
3. Promote positive personality growth and development.

Psychotherapy is available in four modes;

• Individual therapy.
• Couple (marital) therapy, this is designed to psychologically modify the interaction of two persons who are in conflict with each other over one parameter or a variety of parameters- social, emotional, sexual or economic.
• Group therapy is a treatment in which carefully selected persons who are emotionally ill meet in a group guided by a trained therapist and help one another effect personality change.The Psychotherapy modes for group therapy may involve people who do not know each other beforehand but share a common problem.
• While Family therapy involves the whole family. Based on the theory that a family is a system that attempts to maintain homeostasis and aims to bring to light the often hidden patterns that maintain the group’s balance and to help the group understand the purpose of the pattern.

Psychosocial treatment and rehabilitation carter for the social factors. Here the use of various methods to enable persons who are severely mentally ill to develop social and vocational skills for independent living. Treatments are carried out in hospitals, OPD, mental health centers, homes, or social clubs. These include;

• Social skills training These are interpersonal behaviours required for community survival, for independence, and for establishing, maintaining and deepening supportive socially rewarding relationships. Helpful in severe mental disorders like schizophrenia. It covers skills needed for; conversation, conflict management, assertiveness, community living, friendship and dating, work and vocations and medication management.

While handling this training combining psychosocial and drug therapies, most patients need combined drug and psychosocial treatments. The combination of the two provides greater protection against relapse and better social adjustments than an individual treatment

These are the treatments to look out for while dealing with mental illness.