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Mental Health Treatments: Know Your Options

Mental Health Treatments: Know Your Options

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Mental illnesses affect a person’s behaviors, thoughts, and feelings, yet it frequently goes undiagnosed and untreated. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) reports 47.6 million U.S. adults experienced a mental illness in 2018. Among these individuals, only 43.3% received treatment. Additionally, NAMI indicated that the average delay between the onset of mental illness symptoms and seeking out effective treatment is 11 years.

There are many mental illnesses that affect individuals of all ages, including:

  • Depression: Causes generalized sadness; depression may affect a person’s eating and sleeping habits, energy levels, and ability to cope with conflict.
  • Anxiety: Causes a person to feel overwhelmed by worry or fear, resulting in restlessness, muscle tension, and other physical, mental, and emotional symptoms.
  • Bipolar Disorder: Causes extreme and intense mood swings; bipolar disorder may make it difficult for a person to maintain meaningful relationships with friends, family members, and coworkers.
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Occurs after a traumatic event such as physical or sexual abuse, the loss of a loved one, or a serious illness; PTSD causes nightmares, flashbacks, and various self-destructive behaviors.
  • Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): Affects a person’s ability to concentrate and stay focused on the task at hand; ADHD impacts 10% of children and 5% of adults in the United States.

Education plays a key role in a person’s ability to identify and treat mental illness. If an individual understands mental illness, he or she can then take steps to pursue mental health treatments.

Ultimately, if a person is dealing with mental illness, it is essential to meet with a doctor. This individual can next discuss mental illness with his or her doctor and review a broad range of mental health treatments, such as:

1. Psychopharmacology

Psychopharmacology involves an in-depth evaluation of an individual’s response to drugs to treat psychiatric problems. Certain medications help people alleviate mental illness, but finding the right medication is sometimes challenging. Each psychopharmacology treatment program is developed based on the patient, and weighs the risks and benefits of each treatment for each patient.

2. Psychotherapy

Psychotherapy involves discussing mental illness with a trained and licensed mental health counselor. Patients work to explore the root cause of their mental illness, as well as potential solutions to cope with this illness. There are several forms of psychotherapy, including individual, play, and group options. Some patients benefit from psychotherapy used in combination with other mental health treatments as well.=

3. Ketamine Therapy

Ketamine therapy involves the use of ketamine, an FDA-approved drug shown to help relieve symptoms associated with depression, PTSD, and other mental illnesses. Low-dose administrations of ketamine sometimes help individuals alleviate depression symptoms, with results lasting from a few days to a few weeks. Although ketamine sometimes provides short-term relief for mental illness symptoms, it is not intended as a long-term treatment for mental illness.

4. Neurofeedback

Neurofeedback is designed to teach the brain how to optimize its performance, and it has been used successfully to treat depression in children as young as 18 months and adults over 90 years old. Each neurofeedback training program is tailored to the patient, and involves the use of sensors placed on the ears and scalp. With the program, a patient learns how to coordinate the images on the screen with the processes in their brain, in order to help improve their mind.

5. Lifestyle Changes

Lifestyle changes can make a world of difference, particularly when it comes to treating mental illness. For example, healthy eating improves both the body and mind, and consuming a diet rich in vitamins and nutrients and free from food additives may help a person manage his or her mental illness. Meanwhile, exercise is an all-natural treatment that has been shown to help people combat depression symptoms. Developing and implementing an exercise regimen may help one successfully cope with mental illness. Some people also use mindfulness activities like yoga and deep breathing in their mental health treatments.

What Is the Best Way to Treat Mental Illness?

There is no one-size-fits-all mental health treatment. Instead, a doctor should develop a personalized treatment to help his or her patient cope with mental illness. This ensures an individual can discover a safe, effective mental health treatment that helps him or her achieve the optimal results.

At Achieve Concierge, we take a multimodal, collaborative approach to mental health treatment including medications, psychotherapy, as well as natural and holistic interventions. We provide mental health treatments as part of a total wellness experience designed to deliver long-lasting results. We also strive to streamline patient care and ensure that each patient is fully supported throughout treatment.

The Achieve Concierge team is happy to meet with you to discuss different mental health treatments. To schedule a consultation with Achieve Concierge, please contact us online or call us today at (858) 221-0344.

How Holistic Treatment Is Used to Treat PTSD

How Holistic Treatment Is Used to Treat PTSD

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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refers to a mental health condition that affects people after an accident, physical abuse, sexual assault, or any other traumatic event. There is no telling how long PTSD lasts or when it will begin following trauma. PTSD symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, and severe anxiety that make it difficult for a person to move forward and function normally after he or she experiences or witnesses a traumatic event.

Research indicates that PTSD affects individuals of all ages across the United States; in fact, up to 8% of the U.S. population experiences PTSD at some point in their life, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Approximately 10% of women develop PTSD during their lifetime, and 4% of men experience PTSD. Additionally, about 8 million U.S. adults deal with PTSD in a given year.

PTSD symptoms vary in terms of length and severity and can begin any time after a traumatic event. PTSD symptoms can include:

  • Intrusive Memories: Cause a person to relive trauma through upsetting dreams or nightmares, or they experience recurrent, distressing memories related to a traumatic event.
  • Avoidance: Leads to avoidance of people, places, things, and/or activities that remind a person of a traumatic event.
  • Negative Thinking and/or Mood: Results in negative thoughts, feelings of hopelessness about the future, and memory problems, along with detachment from family and friends. This may include a lack of interest in activities that an individual previously enjoyed.
  • Physical and Emotional: Includes difficulty sleeping, irritability, and other physical and emotional changes that make it difficult for a person to function.

If PTSD symptoms linger for a month or longer, an individual should consult with a doctor to explore treatment options, both medication, psychotherapy and holistic treatments for PTSD.

What Is Holistic Treatment of PTSD?

Holistic treatment of PTSD involves the use of alternative therapies and techniques in lieu of conventional medical practices to address PTSD symptoms. Holistic treatments of PTSD include:

1. Massage Therapy

Massage therapy involves manual manipulation of soft body tissues to reduce stress and promote overall health and wellness. In a study of integrative therapies used to promote reintegration among veterans, researchers found that participants who received massage therapy significantly reduced physical pain, tension, anxiety, and depression. Other research shows massage therapy may help people dealing with disassociation (when a person feels “disconnected” from himself or herself), which is one of the symptoms related to PTSD.

2. Acupuncture

Acupuncture involves the insertion of thin, tiny needles into different points on the body. Acupuncture needles help balance the flow of energy in the body to stimulate nerves, muscles, and connective tissue. In a study of 60 veterans, researchers discovered that acupuncture helped participants improve their sleep, even among participants previously diagnosed with PTSD.

3. Yoga

Yoga involves exercises designed to promote mind and body control, as well as enhance one’s overall well-being. There are many different yoga styles, and they come in such a variety that you can find yoga options available for individuals of all ages and fitness levels. In a 2015 study of 80 individuals diagnosed with PTSD, researchers found that yoga may help reduce PTSD symptoms. Researchers in the aforementioned study also noted that yoga may provide an adjunctive or alternative treatment for PTSD.

4. Reiki

Reiki, sometimes referred to as “energy healing,” is an alternative therapy designed to stimulate energy fields around the body. During a Reiki treatment session, a practitioner places his or her hands on a patient’s body using different hand shapes to help reduce stress and improve well-being. In one study, researchers used a PTSD checklist to assess PTSD patients’ symptoms after Reiki treatments. They found that PTSD patients who received Reiki treatments reported a decline in their PTSD symptoms. These study results were clinically and statistically significant in terms of highlighting the overall effectiveness of Reiki to treat PTSD.

5. Meditation

Meditation is a series of techniques that promotes mindfulness, the ability to focus on the here and now. It involves deep breathing and other techniques designed to increase concentration, clarity, and positivity. A study of PTSD patients indicated that participants who engaged in meditation experienced reduced PTSD symptoms and improvements in their depression symptoms.

What Is the Best Holistic Treatment for PTSD?

The ideal holistic treatment for PTSD depends on the individual. At Achieve Concierge, we understand how holistic treatment is used for PTSD symptoms, and we offer custom holistic treatments to accommodate our patients’ needs.

Achieve Concierge believes real healing of PTSD involves treating all aspects of an individual. As such, we take a holistic and collaborative approach to treating PTSD, working closely with patients to create a treatment program that delivers optimal results. Our team of professionals are happy to meet with a PTSD patient and discuss holistic treatment options. To schedule a consultation with Achieve Concierge, please contact us online or call us today at (858) 221-0344.