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The Side Effects of Treatment
By Ally, a college freshman
Negative experiences have made some people who suffer from mental illness averse to asking for help from mental health care providers. When the negative experiences occur when the person with the mental illness is young, such experiences are even more traumatic.
Sometimes it is how an institution responds to a person in need of help for their mental health problems, such as a hospital's psychiatric treatment facility's procedures and other failing conditions, that cause people to avoid seeking help. At other times it is the attitudes, most often negative, with which those who are supposed to help people with mental illnesses approach their clients or patients. In some cases it is the treatment itself which can be disagreeable to the person being treated, whether it be from a damaging course of treatment through medication or counseling.
Whatever the reason someone who has sought out help from mental health care providers becomes apprehensive to seek further help, the impact of someone's experiences, no matter how brief, can change how they perceive future situations related to such.
With that in mind, perhaps what mental health care providers can take into further consideration is how their patients may feel about a course of treatment that is not helping them to recover or to maintain recovery, or even damaging them. In other words, those who try to provide treatment for mental illness can perhaps try to engage their patients more in the process of deciding the course of treatment and follow through by respecting the opinions of their patients instead of steadily dismissing them, even if their patient is much younger than themselves.
Sometimes, doctors, counselors, nurses and other health providers may leave their patients in the dark about what may happen if they take a certain course of treatment; when that patient is younger than 18, they find even more reason to do so. It may seem difficult to convey information about the side effects of treatment to a teenager or a child, but it is this very act which can enable trust in a patient-care provider relationship. It is so important
For patients with mental health problems, know that you have rights as a patient that health care providers must respect and discuss with both you and your legal guardians.
Sometimes it is how an institution responds to a person in need of help for their mental health problems, such as a hospital's psychiatric treatment facility's procedures and other failing conditions, that cause people to avoid seeking help. At other times it is the attitudes, most often negative, with which those who are supposed to help people with mental illnesses approach their clients or patients. In some cases it is the treatment itself which can be disagreeable to the person being treated, whether it be from a damaging course of treatment through medication or counseling.
Whatever the reason someone who has sought out help from mental health care providers becomes apprehensive to seek further help, the impact of someone's experiences, no matter how brief, can change how they perceive future situations related to such.
With that in mind, perhaps what mental health care providers can take into further consideration is how their patients may feel about a course of treatment that is not helping them to recover or to maintain recovery, or even damaging them. In other words, those who try to provide treatment for mental illness can perhaps try to engage their patients more in the process of deciding the course of treatment and follow through by respecting the opinions of their patients instead of steadily dismissing them, even if their patient is much younger than themselves.
Sometimes, doctors, counselors, nurses and other health providers may leave their patients in the dark about what may happen if they take a certain course of treatment; when that patient is younger than 18, they find even more reason to do so. It may seem difficult to convey information about the side effects of treatment to a teenager or a child, but it is this very act which can enable trust in a patient-care provider relationship. It is so important
For patients with mental health problems, know that you have rights as a patient that health care providers must respect and discuss with both you and your legal guardians.
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