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There are ten easy things one can do to help someone with a mental
illness. They include the following:
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1. Listen to the person
2. Give the person a hug
3. Watch a funny movie with the person
4. Take a walk with the individual
5. Tell the person you love him/her
6. Provide support and encouragement
7. Be positive
8. Help the person see their own self-worth
9. Be non-judgemental
10. Make the person smile |
These things help make a person feel wanted, cared for, and important.
They also build the person's self-worth, as low self esteem is
usually a problem for those with a mental health disorder. Exercise
actually raises endorphins in the brain and helps to relieve depression
naturally. Smiling also releases chemicals in the brain that help
fight mental illness. Finally, it is important to know for a person
that he/she has someone to listen to and can be supportive.
There are several different types of therapy to address mental
health disorders.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) works with an individual's thoughts
and behaviors and their influence on one another. This form of
therapy addresses problems in one's thinking patterns. For example,
if someone continuously had the thought that he/she was stupid,
CBT would work on changing this thought. This might include giving
oneself affirmations, or writing down thoughts that contradict
the negative thinking pattern. Furthermore, if this individual
was not assertive in making friends due to low self-esteem, changing
his or her thinking patterns might change this behavior. As such,
if this individual no longer believed he or she was stupid, then
his or her self-esteem might increase enough to make new friends.
In addition, if this person started making more friends, his or
her thinking patterns would change with his or her behavior.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) was developed by Marsha
Linehan to address issues related to Borderline Personality Disorder.
More specifically, DBT is designed to deal with self mutilation,
black and white thinking, coping skills, managing emotions, and
managing interpersonal relationships. Since its development, DBT
has expanded to treat more than Borderline Personality Disorder.
DBT is now used with issues of substance abuse, clinical depression,
and with adolescents as well as adults.
DBT focuses on working on four skill sets: emotion regulation,
interpersonal effectiveness, distress tolerance, and mindfulness.
Mindfulness arises out of Buddhist thought. Its focus as a skill
is for a client to be in the here and now, and present in the
moment. There are several techniques that are used to help clients
focus on this. Some involve sensory activity, including washing
dishes, holding ice, and snapping a rubber band. Another technique
Linehan uses is focusing on one's breathing in the moment by counting
breaths. Distress tolerance involves developing skills to cope
with painful emotions. These can include distraction, and acting
on feeling opposite to the emotion, such as smiling when one is
sad. Distress tolerance skills are important to Linehan because
they involve accepting that there is pain. This acceptance leads
to less stress when painful emotions are present. Other distress
tolerance skills include self-soothing techniques, making the
situation at hand better, and reviewing the pros and cons. The
next skill set, emotion regulation skills, also help with painful
emotions, and those emotions that lead to self-injury. Core skills
here are being able to identify feelings, adding more positive
occurrences, using mindfulness to be aware of emotions, and using
distress tolerance skills.
Distress tolerance skills are important to Linehan because they
involve accepting that there is pain. This acceptance leads to
less stress when painful emotions are present. Other distress
tolerance skills include self-soothing techniques, making the
situation at hand better, and reviewing the pros and cons. The
next skill set, emotion regulation skills, also help with painful
emotions, and those emotions that lead to self-injury. Core skills
here are being able to identify feelings, adding more positive
occurrences, using mindfulness to be aware of emotions, and using
distress tolerance skills.
DBT looks at the area of emotions as far as how much an individual
allows him/her to feel those emotions. If others do not validate
our feelings, it is harder for ourselves to do so as well. Thus
it is important to recognize the origin of this invalidation,
and how it continues to affect one's feelings in the here and
now. For example, many people are afraid of their feelings. They
believe they will become overwhelmed by them or something bad
will happen. As such, working on learning to tolerate the feelings
slowly is a key here. It is further important to look at how an
individual's own self-invalidation leads to blame, anxiety, and
guilt. It is important to remember that feelings are not facts.
They are a state of mind that everyone has. It is the label and
judgements that one attaches to them that makes the difference.
Once one learns to feel the feelings, manage them, identify the
distortions, and name the feelings, there will again be new feelings
and new behaviors that are less negative.
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Systematic Desensitization is a form of therapy often
used with anxiety disorders and phobias. In this type of therapy,
a person is slowly exposed increasingly to what one is anxious
or fearful of. The thought and research behind this type of therapy
proposes that slowly facing one's fears in a controlled situation
will help one overcome them. Usually the individual's therapist
is present during this time, and shows an individual how to manage
his or her anxiety as he/she faces it. This can include relaxation
techniques and deep breathing. As a person continues to face the
situation he or she is afraid of and manages the anxiety that
accompanies with, the person becomes less fearful.
Behavior management therapy works in several ways. The theory behind this is to stop or change a desired behavior. This can be done in several ways. A person can be rewarded in some manner for the behavior that is wanted. In addition, a person can be punished in some manner for an unwanted behavior. With some people, very structured behavior management plans are designed to help manage behaviors with rewards, punishments, and recording methods outlined very clearly. Another form of behavior management is extinction. In this form of therapy, a person’s negative behavior is consistently ignored. As the person realizes he or she is getting less and less attention for this behavior, it often slows until it stops completely.
Substance abuse treatment often works in a progression.
Usually an individual starts with detoxification and inpatient
rehabilitation that moves to a community residence for approximately
six to nine months, then to outpatient treatment. Twelve step
programs are used heavily. The treatment progression for addiction
is so long because individuals can relapse easily immediately
after becoming clean. There are still strong urges to use right
after detoxification. As such, a client needs time to develop
adequate coping skills. Usually after inpatient treatment is over,
the therapist and the client work on an emergency plan of action.
Safe people and safe places are listed. Positive statements are
included, phone numbers, and a "what to do if." This
helps refocus the client to the present and away from urges to
use.
Brief Interventions are often used in combination with
CBT to help with issues of substance abuse. The aim of brief interventions
is to reduce harm of self, and set up immediate goals that can
be met with success. Abstinence may not be one of these goals
if it unreachable. However, it may be a longer term goal. This
also helps by not setting up clients to fail. Solution-focused
therapy is also used. One of the key parts of brief interventions
is the relationship between client and therapist, and using this
to help affect change.
Relapse is common in addiction. However, there are two ways to
veiew this. Most clients slip at some point and use again. For
instance, they have one drink and realize they made a mistake.
When someone relapses, he or she returns to the same drug seeking
behaviors as they did during their addiction. Usually treatment
intensifies at this point. People relapse for several reasons
including stress, relationships, and financial reasons.
The United States' official stance on treatment for addiction
is abstinence. This is the stance of AA as well, though there
are alternatives. Two alternatives to AA are Save Our Sobriety
and Rational Recovery. However, in Canada and Europe, moderation
programs are used to help the person learn how to use the substance
in a limited amount. One of the moderation programs that is sometimes
seen in the U.S. is needle exchange.
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