With all the doom and gloom going on with the global economic situation, many people are seeking the help of a mental health professional. The challenge here is getting genuine help and not hiding the problem.
This post will look at how help is provided and how perceived help is provided. Connecting the Dots definition of help is actually working on the problem and not ignoring it. So the goal here is to get better, very simple right? Well you may be a bit surprised when you set out to get better.
Of the three professions in mental health that are the most useful and productive there is psychiatry that is provided by a psychiatrist. Then there is cognitive counseling and therapy provided by a psychologist. And finally there is clinical hypnotherapy that is provided by a clinical hypnotherapist. Each deals with mental health in a different way. Each of the three is a qualified and accepted profession in mental health.
Most recently clinical Hypnotherapy was finally recognized in early 2008 because of the fast and consistent success when compared to a cognitive approach. Usually the results happen in 1/4 the time as compared to the other cognitive methods, so it is very cost and time effective. Note there is a difference between a Hypnotherapist and a clinical Hypnotherapist in that a clinical Hypnotherapist deals specifically with mental health. They are a far cry from the stage hypnotist that uses hypnosis for entertainment, so don’t be stereotyped when considering this powerful form of help. It has been accepted in the professional community, so you should trust their wisdom and also accept it.
The fourth player in this group more or less should not be a player at all, and that is the insurance companies that ultimately will pay for the service. Needless to say they will insist on the bottom line and not what is right.
The insurance companies will attempt to direct you to taking drugs, and as a result 4 of 5 people on drugs do not need them. Drugs only hide the underlying problem and do nothing to fix it. So that itself is the Connecting the Dots challenge. Drugs do not qualify as genuine help, unless you are that 1 out of 5 that does need them.
A few points to consider on mental health. Apparently there are more or less 3 classifications of mental health being mild, moderate and severe. One of the key indicators of severe is the person does not recognize they have a problem, to them the world is messed up and not them. This group most certainly can qualify as the 1 out of 5 group that needs drugs. So chances are if you know you have a problem, then you don’t need drugs.
So the challenge is to go out and get help without some doctor handing you drugs. Of the 3 types of mental health professionals mentioned above, only a psychiatrist can prescribe drugs. With that thought in mind, a psychiatrist should only be the first stop if you have a severe mental health problem. Otherwise select from the other 2. Note at this point your insurance company will start to make some veiled threats and only allow you a limited number of visits or not want to pay at all. However they will be more that happy to introduce you to a psychiatrist’s prescription pad. If that happens you can kiss your personality and sex life goodby, and still have the unresolved underlying problem. Meaning once you come off the drugs, you still need to deal with it.
If your insurance company forces you to a psychiatrist, insist on therapy other than drugs. Psychiatrists are more than qualified to do what the other 2 can do. Once you make that announcement, watch what happens. There will be a storm brewing that … well just watch. Your psychiatrist will start to bend to the will of the insurance companies and be a bit more insistent that doctor knows best and take the drugs that only hide the problem. Your personality and sex life are on the line. So are you up to the Connecting the Dots challenge?
