Struggling with the symptoms of mental illness can be overwhelming. Still, many people are unsure when to start seeking treatment and whether adult mental health services can help. Fortunately, people experiencing persistent mental stress have a variety of options to choose from. In fact, adult mental health services encompass far more than you might expect and can have a powerful impact on your behavioral health.
What Do Adult Mental Health Services Treat?
Adult mental health services can treat a wide range of mental illnesses. This includes mental health disorders such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Substance use disorders
- Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
- Schizophrenia
- Schizoaffective Disorders
- Bipolar Disorder
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Affective Disorders
- Phobias
- Suicidal Ideation
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Mental health professionals are equipped with the tools and knowledge to accurately diagnose, treat, and support people with a wide variety of mental illnesses. And through these skills and therapeutic practices, they can help you to reduce your symptoms and achieve recovery.
Types of Adult Mental Health Services
Different kinds of adult mental health services exist to address the varied needs of the community. Some behavioral health programs focus on treating severe and persistent mental illness, while others are designed to offer crisis care services or outpatient support. Choosing the right level of support services can ease your concerns about treatment and help you to find the care you need.
Crisis Care Services
Sometimes, a mental health crisis requires emergency care from mental health professionals. People seek crisis services for a variety of reasons:
- Psychotic episodes
- Suicidal thoughts or actions
- Fear that you might harm yourself or another person
- Experiencing delusions or hallucinations that are hard to distinguish from reality
The mental health professionals at a crisis care facility can help you to stabilize from a severe mental health episode and offers a safe place to rest and recover. Further, they can help people find individual placement and supports for continuing care if required.
Residential Mental Health Treatment
Residential treatment programs offer intensive treatments and therapies for people struggling with mental illness. At a residential mental health program, you live on-site at a treatment facility and engage in therapies and groups throughout the day. This includes peer recovery groups, individual counseling, and medication management services.
For many people, a residential program is the best path to getting the symptoms of mental illness under control. Living on-site means that your treatment team can work with you daily to monitor symptoms, deliver targeted treatments, and track progress. It also allows ample time for a wide variety of evidence-based treatments to be delivered and provides a respite from the struggles of everyday life.
Partial Hospitalization Programs
A partial hospitalization program (PHP) is an intensive form of outpatient therapy. Like residential treatment, PHP involves attending treatment groups, intensive therapies, and psychiatric care. But at the end of the day, PHP participants return home to sleep in their own beds. PHP is often the best choice for people who need intensive care for their mental illness but aren’t comfortable with community-based living at a treatment facility. Or, more often, PHP can be used as a step-down from residential mental health programs.
Dual Diagnosis Programs
Dual diagnosis treatment combines substance use treatment and adult mental health treatment for people with co-occurring disorders. Among people struggling with addiction, 37.9% also have a mental illness, such as depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Looked at the other way, 18.2% of people with a mental illness also have substance use disorders.
For people with co-occurring disorders, dual diagnosis treatment greatly improves the likelihood of recovery. Both disorders are treated simultaneously, with evidence-based therapies that have been shown to improve the symptoms of both disorders.
Senior Adult Mental Health Services
Seniors often have specific mental health needs. Disorders such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease affect primarily older adults, and targeted services from a mental health facility may be able to help. Further, many seniors suffer from anxiety, isolation, or cognitive impairment, and can benefit from a senior treatment program that caters to adults ages 50 and older.
When to Start Seeking Treatment
Dealing with the symptoms of mental illness can have a severe impact on your quality of life. Yet many people are unsure of when to start seeking treatment, and whether adult mental health services can truly improve their symptoms. There are a few key guidelines that can help you to decide when to start seeking care, depending on your symptom severity:
A Mental Health Crisis
If you are experiencing a sudden onset of severe mental health symptoms, such as suicidal thoughts, aggressive behaviors, delusions, or hallucinations, it is recommended that you seek crisis services straight away. These services can help you to stabilize your mental health, regroup, and plan for future treatment if necessary.
Persistent Mental Illness
Persistent symptoms of mental illness indicate you may benefit from treatment. If your symptoms are beginning to interfere with your everyday life, the benefits of a residential or PHP program far outweigh the short-term commitment. The tools learned in these programs can help you manage your symptoms for years to come and greatly improve your quality of life.
Intermittent Symptoms
If your symptoms of mental illness are infrequent and less severe, seeking treatment can be a difficult choice. While mental health services can absolutely help, some people may feel as though the time commitment for intense treatment isn’t required. Ask yourself: if my symptoms were relieved, would that make it worth the effort to seek treatment? For many people, the answer will be a resounding yes.
Addiction
If you’re struggling to stop using substances on your own, the time to seek treatment is likely now. Addiction is a progressive disease, meaning it gets worse over time. Starting at a medical detox and continuing with a dual diagnosis program can help you achieve sobriety and do wonders for your physical and mental health.
Start Treatment at Port St. Lucie Hospital Today
When you’re ready to start treatment, reach out to the team at Port St. Lucie Hospital today by calling 772-408-5871 or filling out our online contact form. Our team can help you decide what level of treatment is right for you and will be there to support you throughout the entire process. Your mental health is worth the effort – and the experts at Port St. Lucie Hospital can help you achieve lasting recovery.
