Mental Illnesses
Treating Mental Disorders
Psychotherapy
Also referred to as "talk therapy", psychoptherapy has come a long way from its Freudian beginnings. Nevertheless, the process is arguably fundamentally the same: sitting in a quiet, private space, and discussing what troubles you. Through this supportive environment, a dialogue is formed between the therapist and the patient. While you voice your innermost thoughts and feelings in all their subjectivity, the therapist meets them with objectivity, nonjudgment, and a professional ear. This helps the patient understand the underlying issues, solve their problems, and developing coping skills for the future.
Pharmaceuticals
Though the subject of serious debates, there is no doubt that psychiatric drugs change lives, and are exceedingly popular. Selective sertonin reuptake-inhibitors (SSRIs) treat depression, anxiety, and OCD by keeping more of the brain's "happy" neurotransmitter in our synapses. Stimulants treat ADHD by doing the same with dopamine, so the user can focus. In other words, drugs work by changing the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain, which in turn modifies behavior in a positive way. Some people feel this is an easy way out of problems that require lifestyle changes. But oftentimes these drugs are needed to make those changes in the first place.
Rates of mental illness among Americans in a given year, according to the NIMH, via blog.23andme.com.
Other Therapies
In 1937, the Italian neurologist, Ugo Cerletti, applied an electric shock to the temples of patients with acute-onset schizophrenia. The improvement in their condition was startling and revolutionary. Though initially painful and scary, nowadays the treatment is adminitered under anaesthesia, and is used to treat pharmaceutically-resistant depression among other disorders. It is thought the convulsive seizures resulting the shock "reset" the chemistry of the brain by increasing amounts of the calming neurotransmitter, GABA. In more recent times, deep-brain stimulation with magnetic fields has been used with great success. These therapies are rare and used only in severe cases that don't respond to othet forms of treatment. Nevertheless, they have powerful results, and can make the difference between life and death.