Self-reflection
Mental health is as important as the physical well-being of an individual; thus, mental health issues should be addressed according to diagnosis. I think the core of mental health issues is behaviors. Behaviors are adopted through conditioning when an individual interacts with an environment; behaviors are reactions to environmental impulses. Poor health behaviors contribute heavily to mental health issues; for instance, inadequate sleep may lead to anxiety disorders, insufficient physical activities, and poor eating habits often lead to depression (Wickham et al., 2020). Lack of adequate sleep is mainly associated with stress, especially with work and financial problems. Inadequate sleep hinders efficient body and brain functions, leading to increased adverse emotional reactions to stressful situations, possibly contributing to anxiety disorders. Healthy adults and upcoming adults must get 7-8 and 7-9 hours of sleep each night to help the brain function better (Wickham et al., 2020).
Elsewhere lack of engagement in physical activities could increase depression and negative emotions, thus affecting individual self-esteem. Physical activities promote cognition and enable the brain to release chemicals that help individuals improve their emotional states. Poor dietary habits could lead to an unexpected increase in body weight, leading to anhedonia, a loss of interest in day-to-day activities, and eventually causes depression, especially in new mothers and adolescents. This occurs when there is social comparison among peers.
I believe that society is the primary cause of mental health issues. Societal pressure is often associated with mental illnesses, especially when individuals cannot control their behavior. Several societal factors hasten the contraction of mental diseases, including social and cultural issues. Social factors such as unemployment, unaffordability to suitable housing, unemployment, segregation, stigmatization, and financial constraints contribute largely to mental illness because they alter people’s behavior by creating hostile personalities (Bolton & Bhugra, 2021).
Unequal opportunities in society make some individuals agitated and develop hatred towards those they believe demean them for their social standings since they usually feel depressed and frustrated with their situations. Discrimination causes mental illness where affected individuals slowly withdraw from participating in activities they love and engaging with their friends because they consider themselves appreciated and pressured to conform to societal opinions (Bolton & Bhugra, 2021). Most cultures do not provide rooms for individuals at risk of suffering from mental health illnesses to seek medical care.
Based on my discussions above, psychotherapy is the best treatment for behavioral-related mental illnesses. Psychotherapy, also called counseling, is the best method of treating mental illnesses because it leads patients to open up to professionals to help them heal. Therapy sessions are essential treatment methods because they are governed by a code of ethics that promotes professionalism. Current environments heavily influence behavioral patterns; therefore, changes in the environment are likely to influence new behavioral changes (A. J. Johnson, 2021b). Psychotherapists need to examine behavioral origins to assist them in devising effective treatment models for therapy.
Modern research, in particular, highlights a long-held sociological tenet: context and cultural change impact the results and behaviors of mental health throughout history. Minority groups, especially young adults could be affected by societal changes. People suffer from mental diseases due to their inability to control their behaviors towards situations (A. J. Johnson, 2021b). However, when guided by professionals, they can manage their feelings and get hold of their behaviors. However, depending on the seriousness of the mental illnesses, an individual may also need to be treated while confined in a hospital to prevent dangers such as patients harming themselves or others. Cultural beliefs create fear in society, making youths less likely to seek mental illness treatments than their adult counterparts. Mental illnesses are also expensive to treat, and few people can afford to enroll in therapy sessions, leading to prevalent cases within society.
Several factors have impacted my answers as they have given me an in-depth understanding of mental health issues. The age factor helped me understand that mental health issues are more prevalent in youths like myself because it is at this stage that most individuals are exposed to different circumstances in life. Also, it has this stage that transition takes place. Youths are more exposed to societal and familial pressure where they are expected to behave according to the wishes of the family and society regarding educational achievements and career journeys. The ethnicity factor helps me understand why minority communities are likely to suffer from mental illnesses, primarily due to the inability to cope with discrimination in the community. The gender factor gave me insights into the different behavioral changes experienced by the two genders. Men are likely to develop rebellious attitudes to cope with mental illness, unlike women who conform to depressive moods.
A Counselling Theory
Mental health issues result from unwanted behaviors towards certain circumstances; hence, the behavioral approach is the best counseling theory to discuss. As mentioned earlier, behaviors are learned depending on people’s interactions with different environments; therefore, in the behavioral approach, the main aim would be to stress the current observable behavior. Historical influences are not emphasized in the behavioral approach; thus, the main focus is on present factors influencing current functioning behaviors and applying specific models to alter behavioral patterns.
The main goals of behavioral therapy would be to exterminate maladaptive behaviors and help the patient have implicit behaviors. Behavioral therapy has been used to treat various mental illnesses, including depression, anxiety, eating and weight disorders, pain management, and post-traumatic disorders. Counseling therapies, as earlier stated, are governed by an effective code of ethics to facilitate proper conduct and observation of ethical standards for the therapy to yield positive results (Corey, 2013b). Therapists are therefore expected to remain competitive and observe integrity during their therapy sessions by maintaining professional relationships with clients.
The role of a therapist in behavioral therapy varies depending on the type of mental illness the client is suffering from, so the therapist may be required to use different tests to diagnose the mental illness. The therapist would thus be required to understand the factors determining the patient’s maladaptive behaviors. In behavioral therapy, the therapist also plays the role of a teacher who helps the client unlearn poor behaviors and learn effective behaviors; nevertheless, the client is expected to be cooperative during the therapy sessions so that they can actively participate in the experiment of the new behaviors suggested to them by the therapists (Corey, 2013b). Depending on the seriousness of the mental illness, behavioral therapy allows patients to be proactive by giving them a chance to formulate the objectives they would have the treatment to achieve and assess the effectiveness of these objectives.
Behavioral therapy incorporates different approaches at the onset period, such as incorporating the ABC model, which is used in evaluating behavior through functional analysis. The model involves three crucial stages the A stage deals with understanding the extent of the maladaptive behavior. The B stage deals with the repercussions of the behavior, and the C tackles the problem at hand (Corey, 2013b). The therapist also utilizes other approaches, such as engaging the client with open-ended questions to understand better the origins of behaviors portrayed by the client. They also seek clarification from clients and contemplate and compile information from previous research to help them conduct practical analyses of clients’ behavioral changes.
While applying behavioral therapy, counselors would implement strategies to help the clients adjust their approaches to handling the maladaptive behaviors to help them improve and build on their new behaviors. This treatment would help them accept the necessary help from their loved ones and the people they are dealing with without being problematic. When a client is having trouble transitioning into a new role, the therapist assists them in comprehending the differences between the old and the new positions. Together, they would determine what is causing the problems and devise a solution.
References
Corey, G. (2013b). Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy
Johnson, A. J. (2021b). Changes in Mental Health and Treatment, 1997–2017. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 62(1), 53–68. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022146520984136
Bolton, D., & Bhugra, D. (2021). Changes in society and young people’s mental health1. International Review of Psychiatry, 33(1–2), 154–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2020.1753968
Wickham, S., Amarasekara, N., Bartonicek, A., & Conner, T. S. (2020). The Big Three Health Behaviors and Mental Health and Well-Being Among Young Adults: A Cross-Sectional Investigation of Sleep, Exercise, and Diet. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.579205
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