This is one of the most asked questions – not just by college students, but also the public – about mental health. Treating mental illnesses is similar to treatment to physical illnesses; the doctor starts with a diagnosis and ends with a treatment or cure. Here is the detailed process of how the treatment is done.    

Performing the diagnosis

To see if you have a mental illness, you need to visit a psychiatrist for diagnosis. Your psychiatrist will put you on a series of tests to determine the verdict.

First, your psychiatrist will perform a physical exam. This is to detect any symptoms of irregularities in your body that can be a cause or sign of the mental illness.

Second, your psychiatrist will ask you to undergo some lab tests. Usually, your psychiatrist will ask some blood samples to check your thyroid function or presence of alcohol and drugs. Sometimes, an abnormality in the thyroid causes depression in patients.

Lastly, your psychiatrist will perform a psychological evaluation. Your psychiatrist might ask some questions about your thoughts and behaviors. They might also you to answer a questionnaire rating the severity of your pain or feeling.

After collecting and analyzing the results of these tests will your psychiatrist inform you if you have a mental illness or not.

Prescribing necessary medication

If your psychiatrist diagnoses you with a mental illness, they will usually prescribe you with psychiatric drugs. It is important to know that it is not the psychiatric drugs that treat mental illness. Rather, they help you cope with your symptoms, so you can have a well-functioning life.

Psychiatric drugs come with different kinds, each specializing to improve particular symptoms of the mental illness.  When your psychiatrist sees improvement in your condition, they will decrease the dosage of your medication until you don’t need to take one anymore.

Participating in therapy

Many psychiatrists offer prescription drugs with psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is a treatment in which you discuss your thoughts, feelings, and behavior with a qualified medical professional. The objective of psychotherapy is to assess, analyze, and remedy factors that trigger your illness.

There are different types of psychotherapy, each having their own approach:

• Psychodynamic therapy. This type of therapy assumes that the patient’s unresolved feelings in their childhood are the cause of their emotional problems. The goal of Psychodynamic therapy is for the patient to talk about their feelings and understand why they exist.
  
  
• Interpersonal therapy. This type of therapy focuses on the interactions of the patient with others. The goal of this therapy is to improve the patient’s communication skills and self-esteem.  
• Cognitive-Behavior therapy. This therapy seeks to identify and change the inaccurate and illogical thoughts of the patient. This can be done by teaching the patient certain skills that help them cope with these irrational thoughts.
  
  
• Dialectical Behavior therapy.  This type of therapy is mainly used for high-risk patients. Dialectical Behavior therapy aims to bring “acceptance” and “change” to make the treatment more effective.

Sources: 

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/mental-illness/basics/treatment/con-20033813

https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/mental-health-psychotherapy#1

Contributed by:
Allison Julianne Macasaet
Allison is a freelance writer on the side, a student of international relations on the other. Interests include fantasy books, international relations, and lifestyle.