Family Mental Health Services

Psychiatrists define mental disorders by signs symptoms and impaired functioning. Signs are what an objective observer can see, such as agitation or shortness of breath. Symptoms are subjective, or what the patient feels, such as euphoria or hopelessness. Impaired functioning is the inability to perform certain routines and everyday tasks such as bathing or going to work. In mental illness, signs and symptoms are grouped into several areas such as behaviors (compulsive hands washing), feelings (sadness or depression), thinking (delusions that the television controls the patient’s mind) or physiological responses (sweating).

A healthy state of mind contributes to a healthy life style and implicitly to bonding within a family or other people. Family mental health services include psychotherapy and therapy in different forms, depending on the patient’s symptoms or diagnosed illness. Family counseling or psychiatric counseling is very important for individuals that present symptoms or signs to have a mental illness.

The most common first step to a valid evaluation of our mental health is visiting a psychologist. During the mental health evaluation there are some perceptions that are taken into consideration such as: the patient’s perception, their family member’s perception, ethnic or cultural norms and statistical values. Mental health experts ask their patients how they feel, if others have observed major changes in their behavior, mood or different cultural values. Also, there are some basic questions that are considered during a session to a psychologist like how long and how severe are the symptoms present, how annoying or disturbing are for people around them and one o the most important, how the symptoms affect the patient’s life. In many cases, patients that appeal to a psychologist, depending on the gravity and the impact of the problem, the psychologist can create support groups that reunite different individuals with the same symptoms or the same illness. In these support groups, all patients talk about their problems and willingly try to overcome them.