Finding Emergency Mental Health Services in South Florida

Our mental health is just as important as our physical health. Still, devoting attention to it often fails to make it to the priority list. Between work, family, and social life it’s often hard to find time for taking care of our mental well-being. As a result of this, different mental illnesses can sometimes develop. In some cases, managing mental health conditions through therapy can go extremely well. Unfortunately, things can also go the opposite way. These are the situations where seeking emergency mental health services in south Florida is crucial.

Most common mental health issues in Florida

Struggling with mental health is becoming more and more common in the  US. The estimates suggest that around 50 million adult Americans have at least one mental illness. Floridians are no exception to this overall mental health crisis. However, these statistics cannot be taken as 100% accurate, as the numbers are likely to be bigger. This is due to the fact that many people never get their diagnosis. Not everybody has access to reliable mental health services. Also, the stigma surrounding mental health issues can stop some people from seeking proper help.

Depression

Major Depressive Disorder, commonly known as depression, is a mood disorder. It manifests through a continuous feeling of sadness and hopelessness. Another important sign of depression is the loss of motivation to partake in everyday activities. By doing this, depressed person isolates themselves which deepens the negative feelings. This is something we’ve often encountered when working with patients in our rehab center Lantana FL.

The feeling of sadness is normal as it is an emotion like any other. However, there is a difference between being sad and being depressed. While sadness is temporary, depression can be described as a prolonged period of negative feelings. The symptoms are not universal, and not every single one appears in every person. Still, some are more common than others, and we’ve listed those below.

• Irritability
• Continuous feelings of deep sadness and hopelessness
• Suicidal ideations or actions
• Sleeping too much or not enough
• Eating too much or not enough

It’s extremely important that depression treatment is handled correctly. In case it’s not, it can have serious consequences and can possibly be fatal. If you noticed some of the signs in either yourself or your loved one and you’re becoming worried, consider contacting a therapist.

Anxiety

Everybody has experienced anxiety in some form at least once in their lives. It’s the feeling before a very important exam, or while expecting some big news. However, for people struggling with General Anxiety Disorder, these feelings are much stronger and occur much more frequently. Those suffering from anxiety often describe it as a prolonged feeling of worry and unease. As a result of this feeling, even ordinary everyday situations can become extremely stressful. Anxiety treatment consists of therapy and medication, a specific type of antidepressants.

Anxiety can manifest through a number of physical symptoms. Some of them are restlessness, irregular breathing patterns, dizziness, and high blood pressure. Ironically, these sensations can often induce anxiety, so the patient ends up stuck in a vicious circle. They can get so severe that the patient needs to look into emergency mental health services to deal with them. It sometimes appears as a side effect of drug detox, and we’ve noticed it in some of our patients at the heroin detox Florida center. Anxiety can also be a symptom of another disorder, such as PTSD or different types of phobias. In these cases, treating anxiety as the main problem usually doesn’t work, as the problem is rooted elsewhere.

OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder or OCD is prone to misrepresentation as an obsession with organization and cleanliness. In popular culture, we often hear it as an adjective (“I’m so OCD”) in order to say that you like things in their place. While it may sometimes look like that, OCD can take many different forms. Simplifying it to being organized is not only insensitive but also harmful as it is a serious disorder that greatly affects people’s quality of life.

OCD generally has two main characteristics. A person suffering from OCD experiences obsessive, unwanted thoughts which are often unpleasant and completely irrational. As a result of that, they engage in compulsive behaviors. These behaviors serve as a coping mechanism for easing the distress the thoughts cause. A typical example would be going out but then returning home multiple times to check if the door is locked because your brain is telling you that you’re going to be robbed. The main treatment for OCD is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Without proper therapy, the patients are unlikely to feel any improvement in their behavior.

Eating disorders

Anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating are the most common eating disorders. Their characteristics are different, but they all share an underlying motive: control. While disordered eating appears in almost every age group, it mostly starts during puberty and can last a lifetime. Typical signs and symptoms of an eating disorder include:

• Obsession with food
• Restricting the intake of calories
• Controlling behaviors targeted toward eating habits
• Sudden changes in body weight
• Unrealistic self-image

Eating disorders often go hand-in-hand with OCD. The whole thought process of someone suffering from an eating disorder is essentially obsessive-compulsive, where constant thoughts of food and body weight are an obsession, and resulting controlling behaviors are a compulsion.

While disordered eating is considered a mental health condition, it has a number of negative consequences on physical health as well. Some examples include severe malnutrition, internal organ damage, and temporary loss of the menstrual cycle. There is also a connection to recreational drug use, as weight loss is a side effect of cocaine use. Sometimes the cases are so severe that cocaine withdrawal treatment is necessary. Unfortunately, due to all of these, anorexia has the highest mortality rate out of all mental illnesses. If you notice signs suggesting that your loved one may be suffering from an eating disorder, consider looking for emergency mental health services in south Florida immediately.

Mental health and drug abuse

Many symptoms of different mental health conditions can worsen with drug use. On the other hand, these same symptoms often prompt people to do drugs in the first place. People end up in an endless loop, unable to get out without professional help.

Alcoholism

Alcohol is a depressant, which means that it reduces stimulation and slows down brain responses. This is why people often turn to it as a way to numb their sadness or anxiety. Using alcohol as a coping mechanism is dangerous for multiple reasons. First, developing an alcohol addiction is very likely under those circumstances. If that happens, visiting an inpatient alcohol detox center Florida based facility can be crucial for the recovery. Also, depressed people under the influence of alcohol are more likely to engage in reckless behavior. The consequences of this can be fatal, so it should be prevented when possible.

Marijuana use

Another drug commonly connected to mental health conditions is marijuana. In the context of mental health, people mostly use it as a way to ease their anxiety. There is some controversy around marijuana use being called an addiction as it is legal or approved for medical use in some parts of the US. Still, many of the patients in our marijuana detox Florida center noted that they felt like marijuana was necessary for them to function normally. This is why we encourage asking for help if you’re using marijuana to manage anxiety or other conditions.

Hard drug abuse

Being addicted to a hard drug such as cocaine or heroin is already an unenviable situation to be in. Add in a mental illness, which is what we call a dual diagnosis, and it becomes really hard to manage. Trying to quit a hard drug cold turkey rarely works because of all the withdrawal symptoms. That is why addicts are often worried about what would happen if they were to seek emergency mental health services in south Florida. Most of the medical detox Florida centers, Archstone included, are equipped to deal with dual diagnosis cases. Apart from the mental health treatment and therapy, you will receive appropriate care and medication all throughout your drug detox.

What does mental health treatment consist of?

Managing a mental illness on your own can be possible in some cases. Still, the process is a thousand times easier when you have professional help. The majority of mental health treatments include psychotherapy as a necessary component. Apart from that, your therapist may suggest including some additional aids to ensure your best healing process. The most common ones are different types of medication and in-hospital treatment.

Therapy

Psychotherapy is a mental health intervention where the therapist and the patient engage in a conversation about different issues. Through these conversations, the patient is encouraged to identify the root of their problems and adequately deal with them. There are several types of therapy that offer different approaches to problem-solving. Choosing the one that works best for your personality has the biggest potential to help you solve your problems in the long run.

• Psychoanalysis is a discipline that treats our unconscious mind as the initiator of our behaviors and focuses on healing it
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) puts identifying past negative behaviors as the main task, with the goal of understanding them and preventing them in the future
• Gestalt therapy focuses on the present moment and the current feelings and thoughts of the patient, rather than the past events

It’s important to note that therapy is a process. Many people get discouraged because they don’t see results straight away. Therapy needs time and devotion to work, and change doesn’t happen overnight.

Medication

Therapy can help to a certain extent, but there are situations where it simply isn’t enough. In that case, your therapist may suggest putting you on prescription medication. Depending on your condition, that medication may be in the form of antidepressants, antipsychotics, or sedatives. Getting medical treatment for your mental health can help you control some of the symptoms. However, there are a few things you should pay attention to. If you’ve had problems with addiction in the past, it may happen with this medication too. Some of our patients at opioid detox Florida center reported getting addicted to their prescription medication. Another problem that might come up is experiencing some of the negative side effects of the medication. However, as long as you can have an open conversation with your therapist regarding what works and what doesn’t, you should be just fine.

Emergency mental health treatment – hospitalization

We know that getting hospitalized sounds scary and intimidating. Hospitals aren’t the most pleasant places to be, especially when you’re in mental distress. However, hospitalization is the best solution when it comes to mental health emergencies. Situations we consider emergencies are the ones where the patient needs supervision at all times. Medical personnel is available 24/7 and the patient is constantly in the care of others, which has proven to be extremely beneficial for their recovery.

Emergency hospitalization is the most common for suicide ideations and attempts, where the patient needs constant care to ensure they don’t hurt themselves. Another common emergency condition is drug-induced psychosis, which often happens with meth abuse. In this case, patients would be admitted to a methadone detox Florida facility. Eating disorder patients also often require hospitalization, at least during the first part of their recovery journey. This is because they need someone to consistently control their food habits, something that may not be possible at home.

Conclusion

Dealing with a mental illness on daily basis is a complicated process, whether it’s you or your loved one who’s struggling. If the situation escalates and a serious mental health crisis occurs, you may find yourself wondering what to do. We know that looking for emergency mental health services in South Florida while being in a state of mental distress sounds very hard. However, it’s probably the best type of care a person in need may receive. Constant medical attention and better access to therapies are only some of the benefits hospitalization offers. Don’t hesitate to ask for help and make the first steps towards mental well-being.