Treatments for Mental illness
Treatment of Mental illness: medical news summaries: The following medical news items are relevant to treatment of Mental illness:
- Antidepressant ordered to include a black label due to suicide risk
- Antidepressants for teenagers - good or bad?
- Awareness of bipolar disorder symptoms results in quicker treatment
- Cause of depression needs to be ascertained before appropriate treatment can be prescribed
- Depression treatment is often successful
- Early diagnosis and treatment of maternal depression prevents negative effects on child’s development
- Juvenile bipolar still misunderstood
- Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder have more in common than first though
Treatments of Mental illness discussion: Many people misunderstand anxiety disorders and other mental illnesses and think individuals should be able to overcome the symptoms by sheer willpower. Wishing the symptoms away does not work-but there are treatments that can help. Treatment for anxiety disorders often involves medication, specific forms of psychotherapy, or a combination of the two. 1
Medications for mental illnesses were first introduced in the early 1950s with the antipsychotic chlorpromazine. Other medications have followed. These medications have changed the lives of people with these disorders for the better.
Psychotherapeutic medications also may make other kinds of treatment more effective. Someone who is too depressed to talk, for instance, may have difficulty communicating during psychotherapy or counseling, but the right medication may improve symptoms so the person can respond. For many patients, a combination of psychotherapy and medication can be an effective method of treatment.2
Just as aspirin can reduce a fever without curing the infection that causes it, psychotherapeutic medications act by controlling symptoms. Psychotherapeutic medications do not cure mental illness, but in many cases, they can help a person function despite some continuing mental pain and difficulty coping with problems. For example, drugs like chlorpromazine can turn off the "voices" heard by some people with psychosis and help them to see reality more clearly. And antidepressants can lift the dark, heavy moods of depression. The degree of response--ranging from a little relief of symptoms to complete relief--depends on a variety of factors related to the individual and the disorder being treated.
How long someone must take a psychotherapeutic medication depends on the individual and the disorder. Many depressed and anxious people may need medication for a single period--perhaps for several months--and then never need it again. People with conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder (also known as manic-depressive illness), or those whose depression or anxiety is chronic or recurrent, may have to take medication indefinitely.
Like any medication, psychotherapeutic medications do not produce the
same effect in everyone. Some people may respond better to one medication
than another. Some may need larger dosages than others do. Some have side
effects, and others do not. Age, sex, body size, body chemistry, physical
illnesses and their treatments, diet, and habits such as smoking are some
of the factors that can influence a medication's effect.
2
Footnotes:
1. excerpt from Facts About Anxiety Disorders: NIMH
2. excerpt from Medications: NIMH
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