If you have a mental health condition such as depression or anxiety, counseling can be a genuine lifeline. Ivan Carreras, MD, of Carreras Medical Center in Hialeah, Florida, understands the complexities of mental health disorders and the value that counseling has as part of a holistic approach to treating mood disorders. For compassionate care when you’re in mental turmoil, call the practice today to make an appointment or use the online tool.
Mental Health Counseling Q & A
What is mental health counseling?
Mental health counseling is a valuable therapy for people suffering from mood disorders like depression and anxiety. Being able to talk about anything that’s on your mind with an impartial, professional counselor can be highly beneficial in treating people with mild to moderate symptoms.
Medication can work in conjunction with talk therapy to helping people with more serious mental health disorders.
One of the difficulties in treating mental health conditions is that the cause can be hard to isolate. In some cases, it may seem obvious that a traumatic experience is responsible for severe anxiety, or that a bereavement was the trigger for a bout of depression, but it’s rarely that simple.
Talking with a trained counselor helps you identify any issues in your life that could be affecting your mental health, and gives you guidance on how to deal with them. Even when you can’t identify specific problems in your life, it still helps to be able to talk about how you feel.
Do I need mental health counseling even with a strong support system?
It’s well-known that talking about what’s on your mind is essential for releasing emotions and dealing with whatever’s causing you mental anguish. Friends and family can provide much-needed support when you’re experiencing mental health issues, but there are advantages in speaking with a counselor as well:
- They’re impartial
- They listen without telling you what to do
- You can discuss anything
- They’re nonjudgmental
- They keep everything confidential
Counselors also have the skills to assess your mental health and provide the appropriate help.
Do I need counseling if I’m taking medication?
Medication can be enormously helpful in treating mental health problems. Antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication can help rebalance the chemical neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine that cause the symptoms of mood disorders, and provide valuable relief from symptoms.
However, counseling addresses the emotional factors in your life that medication can’t help with. Attending counseling in addition to taking medication provides a more effective treatment program that gets to the root causes of poor mental health.
If you’ve been feeling especially down, anxious, or overly stressed and can’t shake it off, call Carreras Medical Center today to schedule a consultation or make an appointment online.
