Mental Health and Treatment Approaches

Mental health encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, influencing cognition, perception, and behavior. Mental disorders are defined as health conditions that affect and alter cognitive functioning, emotional responses, and behavior associated with distress and/or impaired functioning. Mental health is associated with a number of lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, stress, drug abuse, social connections and interactions. The closure of state-provisioned psychiatric hospitals was enforced by the Community Mental Health Centers Act in 1963 that laid out terms in which only patients who posed an imminent danger to others or themselves could be admitted into state facilities. Mental illnesses are more common than cancer, diabetes, or heart disease. Mental illnesses are thought to be highly prevalent among homeless populations. Mental health is a socially constructed concept; different societies, groups, cultures, institutions, and professions have very different ways of conceptualizing its nature and causes, determining what is mentally healthy, and deciding what interventions, if any, are appropriate. Addressing and eliminating the social stigma and perceived stigma attached to mental illness has been recognized as crucial to education and awareness surrounding mental health issues.Overview of Mental Health and Treatment

• NAMI was founded in 1979 to represent and advocate for those struggling with mental health issues.

• Mental health professionals are starting to understand the importance of competency in religious diversity and spirituality.

• Occupational therapy practitioners aim to improve and enable participation in meaningful, everyday occupations.

• Social work in mental health helps individuals attain freedom from overlapping internal and external problems.

• Biological factors, genetic factors, life experiences, and family history of mental health problems can contribute to mental health problems.

• Unemployment has been shown to hurt an individual's emotional well-being and self-esteem, and increase the risk of depressive disorders.

• Prevention of a disorder at a young age may significantly decrease the chances that a child will have a disorder later in life.

• Mental health care navigation helps to guide patients and families through the fragmented mental health industry.

• Pharmacotherapy uses pharmaceutical drugs to treat mental illness.

• Physical exercise and activity therapies, such as occupational therapy and recreational therapy, have proven to improve mental health.

• Social media can be a resource for mental health prevention, but it can also lead to deterioration if not managed properly.

• Patients who can access and read their Electronic Health Records (EHR) or Open Notes online experience increased understanding of their mental health, feeling in control of their care, and enhanced trust in their clinicians.Various Approaches to Mental Health Treatment

• Expressive therapies like art therapy, music therapy, drama therapy, dance therapy, and poetry therapy have been proven to significantly reduce depressive and anxiety symptoms.

• Psychotherapy is a general term for the scientific treatment of mental health issues based on modern medicine. It includes schools like psychoanalysis, cognitive behavioral therapy, psychedelic therapy, and dialectical behavioral therapy.

• Group therapy involves any type of therapy that takes place in a setting involving multiple people.

• Self-compassion consists of three main positive components—self-kindness, common humanity, and mindfulness. A study revealed that specific components of self-compassion can predict specific dimensions of positive mental health.

• Social-emotional learning (SEL) studies have shown a small but significant effect size for externalized problems and social-emotional skills.

• Mindfulness meditation is effective in bringing about reductions in depression, anxiety, and stress. It is also effective in treating substance use disorders.

• Lucid dreaming has been associated with greater mental well-being and was not associated with poorer sleep quality nor with cognitive dissociation. Lucid dreaming therapy can also help with nightmare reduction.

• Mental fitness encourages people to intentionally regulate and maintain their emotional wellbeing through friendship, regular human contact, and activities that include meditation, calming exercises, aerobic exercise, mindfulness, having a routine, and maintaining adequate sleep.

• Spiritual counseling delivers care based on spiritual, psychological, and theological principles.

• Emotional mental illnesses should be a particular concern in the United States since the U.S. has the highest annual prevalence rates (26 percent) for mental illnesses among a comparison of 14 developing and developed countries.

• Mental health policies in the United States have experienced four major reforms: the American asylum movement, the mental hygiene movement, the deinstitutionalization movement, and the community support movement.

• The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1975 created the Community Support Program (CSP) to provide funds for communities to set up a comprehensive mental health service and supports to help the mentally ill patients integrate successfully in the society.

• The Helping Families in Mental Health Crisis Act, HR2646, was introduced by United States Representative Tim Murphy in 2013. The bipartisan bill went through substantial revision and was reintroduced in 2015.