Getting Help & Treatment

Getting Help

If you, or someone you know, is experiencing
feelings of anxiety or depression which are life
disrupting, it is worth asking for help at an
early stage before these feelings become
severe. Some people find it helpful to talk to
family and friends, but many prefer to talk to
another person who has some knowledge
(either professional or personal) of the
experiences that are causing them distress.

Go to Mental health charities & organisations for a directory
of organisations that may be able to help

Treatments

There are different ways in which you may receive
support and treatments. Drug treatment may be helpful
as may talking treatments (e.g. counselling, psychotherapy,
self-help groups). Sometimes a combination of the two works best.

Many people diagnosed as having mental health problems are treated
with drugs such as tranquillisers or anti-depressants, which
work by affecting the chemical balance in the brain. At the same time
doctors and others are becoming more aware of the value of talking
treatments and a growing number of doctors surgeries have access to a
counsellor.

Which treatments are most appropriate will depend
on the nature of the problem. Counselling and psychotherapy
are talking treatments that offer people a chance to talk
through current or past difficulties, problemsand emotions.
These types of talking treatments can provide regular and ongoing
emotional support and guidance for people who feel that they
need to talk through a problem with someone other than family
and friends.

Counselling is often recommended to help people deal with a
specific recent upset. It can last for several weeks or several
years depending on what the client wants.

Psychotherapy aims to help an individual to recover from a period
of distress by using a therapist to prompt a fresh look at past
experiences which may lie at the root of his or her current unhappiness
and ways of thinking.

There are many ways to seek help. It is worth noting that seeking help
is the first stage of dealing with distress, and those problems, which seem
insurmountable can often be dealt with very easily in the right hands. Other
problems may be more difficult and may take longer to unravel. But it is
important to remember that there are people who will have experienced
similar difficulties to you and there will be people who can help.

Information taken from the NHS National Institute for Mental health in England Directory 2005

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