Preventing Crisis: The Power of Early Mental Health Intervention
- Intern At Mind Splatters
- Mar 15
- 3 min read
-Dubori Nayantora
Intern, May- July 2024
We see many people around us who are struggling in different areas of their lives be it at their home, school, work, relationships, and so many more dynamics. Many times due to a lack of mental health awareness and stigmatization, such struggles are trivialized as "normal" or "not important enough" for it to be attended with support and understanding. Due to such notions and the realization that there is no other option for them to feel better, individuals in need of professional help end up engaging in risky and harmful behaviors such as the intake of substances to induce pleasure levels that are missing from their system that leads to significant impairments in their functionality, disobedience of social laws and often people develop suicidal behaviors, thus leading to higher suicidal rates.
In such cases, if the knowledge of resources and the importance of seeking help was introduced to the suffering individuals, many of these risk factors could be eliminated in the roots instead of letting the dysfunctionality grow into the individual's perceptions and actions.
The importance of early intervention in dealing with mental health issues
Early intervention helps in identifying the alarming signs of an individual's mental health and early treatment and care can lead to a more sustainable life and recovery from such symptoms that can make the issue bigger than it is at present.
Early intervention involves several elements such as assessment, treatment outline, and the implication of the necessary intervention. Such interventions could be cognitive behavioral therapy, medications, family therapy, and other modalities.
It prevents the surfacing of severe symptoms and mental health problems, thus reducing the duration, costs, and the individual's energy involved in getting the treatment in comparison to getting the treatment at a later stage.
Allows the individual to lead a better-functioning life in their individual, work, family, and other spaces.
Encourages the individual to reach their truest and best potential, which would be otherwise hindered by the mental health issues the individual is battling with.
Garners awareness and education on better coping strategies and self-regulation that leads to a better individual and social life.
Reduces the intensity of the present symptoms, thus contributing to the management of their mental health in a better way.
Induces better self-esteem within themselves and encourages them to build a good position within their society.
Due to early intervention of symptoms at their root, the recovery can be done at ease and with less mental stress for the person in question.
As individual learns how to regulate themselves and regain healthy control over their lives, the stress and uncertainty faced by their family and friends are also reduced to a significant amount.
How can we help?
Educational institutions should initiate and encourage mental health awareness as well as provide professional support to their students and staff.
Information regarding mental health centers and professionals should be circulated.
Mental health hotlines and communities must be organised especially in places where such services are close to nil.
Online facilities can be initiated to reach a larger population.
To conclude, early intervention can save lives and encourage well-sufficient survival mechanisms which can be thoroughly done through constant education of mental health importance that will reduce the hesitation to approach and facilitate motivation to seek professional help and live a better life that they truly deserve to live.
Comentarios