Unfortunately, there is no "cure" for mental health issues. This includes depression, anxiety, anger or stress.
Simply put, “no” there is no “cure” for mental health issues. This includes depression, anxiety, anger or stress. There are strategies that can be learned to cope with your symptoms. There are things you can do that will lessen your symptoms such as eating right, getting some physical activity, managing your stress, etc. You can take medication to get to a level where you can function in everyday life and not bear the full weight of your symptoms. Or, medication can improve your mood and, in some cases, allow you to enjoy doing things again.
If you’re looking for some ideas that will lessen your depression, anxiety, anger or stress symptoms click here to go to one of my previous articles.
Expectations and your goals for treatment are one of the first things you’ll talk about with your therapist when you decide to seek help for your depression, anxiety, anger, stress or whatever mental health issue you’re facing. For some people, the idea that they will never achieve some idealistic notion of what it means to be “normal” is too demoralizing. This is why a therapist is going to focus on this issue right away. For treatment to continue, client and clinician have to agree on some tangible goals and tempering unrealistic expectations. Some people actually find relief in this because there is now something that is tangible and real they can work towards instead of some abstract idea of what is means to be “normal”.
For a moment, let’s talk about what it means to be “normal”. What is “normal” anyway? Is it being happy and jovial constantly, always having more than enough energy and motivation to get things done? Is it being outgoing and the life of the party? Is having a great physique and washboard abs “normal”? Now, I guarantee that your definition of “normal” is going to be different from anyone else’s definition of what it means to be “normal”. For most ideas, this entails momentary states of being that cannot be maintained indefinitely. Nobody is happy every single moment of every single day. Your energy levels and motivation rise and fall like the tides. Sometimes, you just don’t feel like going to a party or working a room like you’re a politician. As for having a great physique, our societal views are horribly skewed. All those models and fitness stars you see in magazines train for that one photo-shoot year round. Even their weight and body definition fluctuates, sometimes dramatically.
Another idea that has some research to back it up is the theory that everyone has their point at which mental health issues can develop. The level at which this happens varies from person to person and there are a multitude of factors that can influence where this line is. Your gene’s play a significant role as it’s been shown that mental illness is an inheritable trait. Environment is another factor. If you’ve grown up in an abusive household, you’re most likely going to face some type of mental health issues down the road. Another example is found in the military. There is an epidemic right now of post-traumatic stress disorder happening to this country. Record amounts of veterans are coming home with severe mental health issues as a direct result of their experiences in combat situations. This is a perfect example as it proves that no matter who you are or what your coping strategies are, going through some of the experiences these veterans faced are going to have profound consequences on your mental health and wellbeing.
The point is everyone is going to be up and down at certain times. For those that deal with depression, anxiety, anger or stress, they tend to have more downs than ups. However, life’s constant stressors can overwhelm anyone at times. Some people have better coping mechanisms to deal with these changes in life and others don’t. The good thing is that coping strategies can be taught and is why seeing a talk therapist is a good idea. However, before coping strategies can be taught a client’s expectations and goals for therapy must be fully hashed out.
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aealmon
March 29, 2011 at 2:24 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Working with a therapist is an important part of treatment and a vital part of developing realistic expectations and coping skills. I was told by my last therapist in 2006 that he saw no reason for us to continue to meet, I essentially had “graduated” from therapy. I was shocked, for the first time since my diagnosis my therapist and my psychiatric both told me that as a patient I had exceeded all expectations. Now, most often during my evaluations with my doctor we negotiate on what changes to make in my medication in response to my symptoms. We have equal say in how to treat my illness with the medication. I tell my mom, because she worries, that I am the most functional dysfunctional person she will ever know, I have learned that I have to pay attention to my mental health just like I need to remember to brush my teeth every morning. For me, this is stable, and I say stable because the word normal is meaningless to me. The difficulty is knowing that there will always be those “bad day(s)” and I will always have to keep a tight grip on the mania. Unlike my therapy I don’t get to graduate from this illness, I must make the choice every day to be functional because as you know, there is no cure.
admin
March 29, 2011 at 3:42 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Thank you so much for sharing your experiences.
It’s wonderful to hear stories from people who’ve had success in managing their mental health issues. You also illustrate the therapeutic relationship that can develop between client and clinician whereby the client recognizes that they’re on equal footing with the therapist and are given free reign to dictate the approach to treatment. I think too often people who attend therapy don’t recognize how much say they actually have and instead always defer to the therapist. This is fine in the beginning, but once a client is stabilized and a good relationship has developed, a good therapist will recognize that the client understands their symptoms best and, based on the new knowledge and insight gained, can determine best how to continue treatment.
Great point too that once you achieve a point of stability, you have to keep working at it just like anything else. I think that’s part of tempering expectations because some might think that once they start feeling better, they no longer have to pay attention to their mental health. Many don’t realize that it’s a lifelong process that needs constant attention just like their physical health.
aealmon
March 29, 2011 at 3:59 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I think about all the people who feel better and stop taking there medication and it frustrates me that I can’t convey or explain prevention and maintenance. Its like not taking the whole antibiotic prescription a doctor gives you when they warn you, “finish this or you will get Bronchitis”, and two weeks later people don’t understand how they could have avoided the second trip to the doctor. Long-term and life-long are very hard to differentiate in some circumstances.
admin
March 29, 2011 at 4:24 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
That’s a perfect example. I’ll have to use that……..
I also think that in light of our societal acceptance of instant gratification, the thought of having to work at something long-term just isn’t palatable. Thus, people come to expect that merely taking a pill or just showing up to therapy is going to cure all their ills. Of course, there’s far more to it than that.
aealmon
March 30, 2011 at 1:32 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Here is an example of one of those times I wish I was still in therapy. I recognized a behavior of mine that I associate with my illness so I addressed the issue and found resolution. Then, what was a set back turned into some kind of progress that I don’t understand as a result of my decision to blog about my illness in order to promote my personal development and wellbeing. If I were not medicated this confusion would have most likely triggered a manic episode.
admin
March 30, 2011 at 4:22 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
So, you identified a negative behavior or symptom and took action to manage it. Sounds like you’ve learned some healthy coping strategies and, in conjunction with the meds, are seeing positive results. This is where I would encourage you to take the central view of positive psychology. Instead of searching for what’s wrong in your confusion, just go with it and let go. See what happened as something good and that there might not be anything negative about the associated experience. Focus on your strengths and virtues that enabled you to take action.
Just my 2 cents.
Marie-Louise
March 29, 2011 at 10:40 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Book marked, I really like your site!
admin
March 29, 2011 at 11:18 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Thanks for bookmarking the site and being a regular reader.
Feel free to spread the word and post links to my site. Reaching as many people as I can and creating a sense of community is a goal of mine.
Hope to see you back soon!
IntrinsicEcho
March 30, 2011 at 1:21 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
I really appreciate your site. I read your Medications post below and had to laugh because I had just completed a post on my experience with the medical profession regarding mental health and some of what you said echoes exactly what is there.
Thanks for stopping by my site too!
admin
March 30, 2011 at 11:26 am (UTC -6) Link to this comment
UGH, what a horrible experience and it’s awful you had to go through that.
I wish more people didn’t have to find out the hard way about meds and psychiatrists. That’s why I always advocate exactly what you’ve discovered.
Unfortunately, the psychiatric profession has realized that it’s far more profitable to just quickly do a rough diagnosis on someone and toss meds at them. This way they only have to spend 15 minutes seeing someone and can fit in more patients. More patients = more money. Talk therapy? Actually listening to what your patient has to say? Finding an underlying cause and not just seeing the person as a set of symptoms? Crazy talk. Of course, not every psychiatrist is like this, but the good one’s seem to be far too few.
From your site, it sounds like you’ve managed to pull through this horrible experience and come out a better person for it. I, for one, am happy you have and are now sharing your experiences.
I wish you luck and thank you for visiting.
Josh
March 30, 2011 at 6:32 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
David,
An excellent post. I especially liked the part about “Normal.” It’s such a subjective term and what’s “normal” for some is not “normal” for others.
Keep up the great work!
Josh…:-)
admin
March 30, 2011 at 7:57 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
Thanks Josh for the kind words. I really appreciate it.
What it means to be “normal” is probably one of the best examples of a word being completely subjective, just as you stated. Society plays a role in dictating to us what the definition is as well as peers, family, your own worldview, etc. There’s just so many factors influencing it that I don’t think there could ever be any reasonable consensus.
Good luck you you!
Dorian
April 2, 2011 at 9:35 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
This is a thing I must do more research into, appreciate the posting.
Larealite
April 4, 2011 at 11:15 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
thanks for the information
Being “Normal” « slayingdepression
April 4, 2011 at 4:47 pm (UTC -6) Link to this comment
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