Psychotherapy To Overcome Mental Health Disorders

Psychotherapy is one of the common treatment methods to deal with various psychiatric problems, such as severe stress, depression, and anxiety disorders. Psychotherapy is usually done individually, but sometimes it can also be done in groups.

Psychotherapy is one of the most common steps taken by psychiatrists and psychologists to deal with emotional disorders or psychological problems that are felt by patients.

In addition, psychotherapy can also be done to overcome behavioral problems, such as tantrums and addictive behavior or dependence on certain things, such as drugs, alcohol, gambling, to pornography.

Through psychotherapy, the psychologist or psychiatrist will guide and train patients to learn to recognize the conditions, feelings, and thoughts that cause complaints and help patients to form positive behaviors towards the problem at hand.

Thus, patients are expected to be better able to control themselves and respond to difficult situations better.

Conditions that require psychotherapy

Many incorrect assumptions or stigma that people who undergo psychotherapy to a psychologist or psychiatrist indicate that the person has a mental disorder or crazy. Though the reality is not the case.

Psychotherapy is intended for anyone who is aware that he has a psychological problem or is at high risk of experiencing mental disorders and intends to seek help to overcome these problems.

The following are some of the complaints or psychiatric problems that need to be treated with psychotherapy:

    Feeling hopeless or overwhelming sad for several months.
    Excessive anxiety, fear, or worry that causes difficulties in carrying out activities or daily work.
    Changes in mood or extreme mood, for example suddenly excited or very sad for no apparent reason.
    Begin to exhibit negative behaviors, such as irritability, substance or drug abuse, alcoholism, or overeating.
    Have an idea or desire to kill yourself or hurt someone else.
    Having hallucinations.
    Difficulty expressing feelings or feeling that no one else can understand the feelings or problems you face.

The above complaints can occur when a person experiences mental stress or traumatic events, for example after a divorce, a family member or close friend has died, has just lost his job, or has just become a victim of disaster or violence.

Apart from the traumatic event, some of the above symptoms may also be caused by certain mental disorders, such as depression, personality disorders, bipolar disorder, PTSD, anxiety disorders, and schizophrenia.

Types of Psychotherapy

There are many methods and techniques of psychotherapy performed by psychologists or psychiatrists. The type of therapy to be used is generally adjusted to the patient's condition and the patient's response to psychotherapy.

Some types of psychotherapy that are quite often done, include:

1. Cognitive behavioral therapy

Cognitive behavioral therapy aims to evaluate the patterns of thought, emotions, and behavior that are the source of problems in a patient's life. After that, the doctor or psychologist will train the patient to respond to the source of the problem in a positive way.

For example if patients used to use drugs or alcoholic beverages to deal with stress, then with this psychotherapy, patients will be trained to respond to stress with more positive activities, such as exercise or meditation.

2. Psychoanalytic and psychodynamic therapy

This type of psychotherapy will lead the patient to look deeper into his subconscious. Patients will be invited to explore various events or problems that have been hidden and not realized.

In this way, patients can understand the meaning of each event they experience. This new understanding will help patients in making decisions and dealing with various problems.

3. Interpersonal therapy

This type of psychotherapy will guide the patient to evaluate and understand how the patient has a relationship with another person, for example family, partner, friends, or coworkers. This therapy will help patients become more sensitive when interacting or resolving conflicts with others.

4. Family therapy

This therapy is carried out by involving the patient's family members, especially if the patient has psychological problems related to family problems. The goal is that problems faced by patients can be overcome together and improve relationships that had cracked between patients and families.

5. Hypnotherapy

Hypnotherapy is a psychotherapy technique that uses hypnosis to help patients better control their behavior, emotions, or thought patterns.

This psychotherapy method is quite often done to make patients more relaxed, reduce stress, relieve pain, to help patients stop doing bad habits, such as smoking or overeating.

To deal with psychiatric problems, psychotherapy is often combined the use of drugs, such as antidepressant drugs, antipsychotics, anxiety medications, and mood stabilizers, depending on what the diagnosis of the disease or psychiatric problems suffered by the patient.

In addition, the results of psychotherapy will be different for each individual. Certain types of psychotherapy may be suitable for one patient, but not necessarily effective if applied to other patients. Therefore, it is recommended that you consult with a psychologist to determine the appropriate therapy for your condition.