Topic: mental illness

It makes little sense to criticize our “system” of mental health care, when it’s only a system in some places. In the national sense, it isn’t a system at all, and never has been.

In spite of the advances, science still struggles to understand the disease process that underlies most disorders.

In a sense we’re just describing disorders that we only partly understand.

As a general rule, the better the causes of a disease are understood, the more effective the treatments will be.

Language– the words we choose for our self-talk– has a powerful influence on our brain function. Words can help us re-shape the cycle of feelings, impulses, and behaviors.

Another common criticism is that the diagnostic system dehumanizes clinical care, leading us to think about disorders rather than people.

Therapy we might see as fiddling with the ‘software’. Not so different from treating a chronic disease such as diabetes, where education and counseling improve outcomes.

The key to treatment success is an integrated approach: One treatment team treats both illnesses using an integrated treatment plan.

It may help in understanding how the problems that plague some of us throughout life may have come about. And hopefully, in doing so, remove a bit the shame and stigma that often accompanies such problems.

Diabetics and heart patients are asked to make changes in lifestyle to reduce the risk of future crisis. Therapy is sometimes used to support those changes.