Mental Health Treatment Options & 
Life Domains

Mental health issues can affect us in all of our life areas of which there are 7.  Mental health issues can alter how a person thinks, feels, and behaves, so it makes sense that mental health affects all parts of our lives. 

The 7 Life Domains

Physical  

Your physical or medical health - If you are ill with a short term sickness or a long term chronic illness, it can affect all other life areas.  As humans, when we are not feeling physically well, it can impact every aspect of our emotional, mental, and social lives.  Think about the following example:  If you had the flu, it would make you call in sick to work, which impacts your finances and simultaneously results in you neglecting your household and family responsibilities - All because of a single physical sickness.

Emotional

This is your "mental health" or ability to manage expression of your feelings.  When we experience stress in both high and low levels, it can adversely impact our mood.  In addition, if a person has depression or a mood disorder, it can highly impact their daily functioning and other life areas. 

Spiritual

The sense of spirituality is connected with our religious or cosmic meaning-making.  When humans have high levels of stress, mental health issues or significant life trauma, it can impact a person’s view of God, religion or spirituality - God may be percieved as wrathful and vengeful or alternatively, as a benevolant being who is testing us with pain.  Many times a person may reject their religion or spirituality when they are upset or going through high levels of stress, because most people interpret religion as a system that is designed to provide them with freedom from suffering - Not more of it.

Social

Your friends, collegues, and extended family constitute your social sphere.  Having a network to socialize with and receive support is vital to most humans, so it is important to achieve a healthy balance of social life and responsibilities in other life areas.  Socialization is a MUST.

Family

Your closest relatives, including spouse, children, and parents constitue your "family". Balancing the demands of family life and enjoyment of family life can sometimes be a challenge, and if there are issues in your other life areas, it can adversely impact your ability to manage the demands of your life.  For example, if there are problems at work, the person may be too stressed or too tired to complete the assigned tasks.  In addition, there may be problems in the family (maybe a separation or pending divorce) that can cause stress and make it difficult to manage other life areas.  Family generally presents as one of the most challenging aspects of people's lives that often recieves the least attention (This is often the case in modern Western cultures).

Profession 

Career or job problems can make it difficult to perform at work, and it can also make it difficult to function at home with family or social activities.  Job difficulties can bring on feeling of anxiety and depression very rapidly, because we depend upon our work in order to ensure that we are able to live, eat, and enjoy the company of our friends and family.  Stress factors can also be very high if you are unaware if you will be able to maintain your job or if there is a threat of loss of a job. 

Financial

Your response to money, budgets, income, and bills constitutes the financial domain of your life.  When there are overwhelming bills and a lack of finances, you can become very overwhelmed, and this can produce a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness.  Financial difficulties can make it hard to function in day to day responsibilities, because financial integrity is often the first step to ensuring that you can eat!

Mental Health Issues Are A Challenge

When you have mental health issues, basic responsibilities can feel like a chore.  Depression is a mental health issue that can debilitate a person's will to live, where they may stop showering, eating, paying bills, even with draw from loved ones, including their kids.

However, there is help for those with mental health issues in the form of support groups offered through hospitals and churches, which are generally free, becaues they are peer-run.  This means that other people who are suffering from the same symptoms can come together, share their experiences, and heal.  There is no professional care, but rather genuine support from those with the same problems trying to help each other.  Alternatively, outpatient therapy is treatment given by a professional therapist, and this treatment can be individual therapy, group therapy or family therapy.  However, most people undergo a combination of therapies.  For example, a counselor may ask the patient to be involved with psychiatric medications in order to treat the symptoms of their condition while they simultaneously engage with psychotherapy in order to address the underlying causes of their problem.  Some methods for treating mental health conditions vary between "Outpatient" and "Inpatient" therapies.  

Standard outpatient therapy generally occures once per week while the individual is living their life normally on a day-to-day bases.  Meanwhile, intensive outpatient therapy is treatment similar, but it usually occurs several times per week rather than just once.  A typical schedule would involve attending sessions for 3 to 4 hours 4 to 5 days a week.  It involves group and individual therapy, as well as family therapy. 

For those with severe mental health issues that involve suicidal ideation of extreme physical aggression or addiction, inpatient therapy may be recommended.  This level of care requires a longer length of stay on a locked inpatient unit, until the person demonstrated stabilization.  This often involves psychiatric care with a doctor and medication monitoring when applicable.  Seeking a professional evaluation can help determine the right level of care. 

- Kim B.