Mental health doesn’t discriminate based on age, gender, race, or background. Believe it or not, around 1 in 5 Americans lives with a mental illness every day, and around half will in their lifetimes. Fortunately, it doesn’t have to be that way. There are treatment options available to help. If you still need help finding treatment, it helps to understand the benefits of seeking professional help and how to find the right program for your needs.
Benefits of Seeking Professional Help
We are using the term “mental health concerns” to cover various issues, including everything from PTSD to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, and more. However, if you are experiencing suicidal thoughts or making plans to harm yourself or others, call or text the suicide hotline immediately by dialing 988. At that point, treatment can’t wait. Otherwise, these are the key benefits of seeking professional help, regardless of your condition or concerns.
Treating the Root Cause
If you have multiple mental health conditions, substance use disorder (SUD), unhealthy habits, or anything else you wish to address, mental health treatment addresses the root cause of these problems. Without that, it’s drastically harder to find long-term success in any of your goals. Remember that you may not even know how much your mental illness impacts your daily life until you realize that some of the challenges have subsided. It’s often hard to tell until it’s gone.
Gaining Lifelong Tools
You don’t have to consider mental health treatment a problematic chore or task. Think of it as an education on how to live your life to the fullest extent. The proper treatment plan can give you the tools to do just that. From there, you’ll have these tools forever. Learning to identify, regulate, and control your emotions and mental state can permanently improve your quality of life.
Overcome Challenges
Whether it’s a lost loved one, addiction, work stress, or anything else, seeking help can get you through the most challenging periods of your life. We will always face tough times, no matter who we are or what we do. The best way to respond is to get through these periods and become a better person.
To help you thrive through difficult periods, talking to a professional can make a difference. Regardless of your challenges or conditions, there’s no substitute for professional help.
Discussing Sensitive Topics
Remember that anything you say to a mental health professional is exclusive to you and them. You can talk about anything you want if you don’t pose a threat to yourself or others. Having this open dialogue is often the missing puzzle piece. Many people don’t know how neglected they’ve felt until they finally have this open dialogue. If you’re holding difficult conversations in, professional help is a great way to let it out.
Find the Right Treatment Plan For You
Unfortunately, 3 in 5 people with mental health conditions never seek any treatment, let alone find the right one for their needs. Regardless of your challenges, a professional will know what to recommend. Whether you need talk therapy, inpatient treatment, medication assistance, or anything else, a referral from a professional can improve your life in many ways.
The professional you speak with can refer you to a program best suited to your needs. However, if you are experiencing a mental health emergency or believe you need help immediately, you’ll need to find the right program as soon as possible.
How to Choose the Right Mental Health Treatment
Now that you know the benefits of seeking help, let’s find out how to achieve these benefits for ourselves. Here’s what you need to know about choosing a mental health treatment plan.
Outpatient Programs
You may benefit from an outpatient or inpatient treatment program, depending on your needs. Outpatient programs are programs you attend on your own while living at home. This could include support groups, therapy sessions, doctor visits, medication, and more.
There are plenty of benefits of an outpatient program. You don’t have to miss work or family obligations, and you can attend treatment on your own time. However, the downside is that you have to continue those commitments. This takes away important time from your recovery, may cause unnecessary stress, and can even slow your healing.
Inpatient Programs
Conversely, inpatient programs offer anything that an outpatient program would offer. The difference is that you live in a treatment facility for a designated period. The benefits are that you have time dedicated to the healing process. You’ll have round-the-clock access to professional help and a program tailored specifically to your needs. Also, you can just get away from it all and focus on self-improvement. You won’t be near any temptation to abuse substances or harm yourself in any way.
Of course, there are tradeoffs. You will have to commit to staying for a certain period; even so, it’s the fastest way to recovery.
Get Professional Help
Now that you know how to find professional help for your mental health conditions, why wait? The sooner you find the right treatment plan for your needs, the sooner you can start living your life with a clear and healthy mind. Making the first move could be the best decision of your life.
Stay up to date with our latest wellness tips, and don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions or for help finding a program!
