For individuals in El Paso, Texas that are seeking help as well as families of people that may need help getting a mental health diagnosis is often much more involved than they may have expected. Working with a top psychiatric hospital as well as with your primary care physician is critical to go through the steps necessary.
The benefits of getting a mental health diagnosis is that it is then possible to create a treatment plan that will help the individual to cope, end problematic behaviors and symptoms, and to lead a life without the difficulties and misunderstandings that they have experienced in the past.
The Difficulty in Getting a Mental Health Diagnosis
When you first talk to your family doctor about any difficulties you are experiencing from a chemical dependency to difficulties with stress, anxiety or depression, you are taking the first step. Your doctor will typically recommend you see a psychiatrist and may even provide you with a referral of a mental health professional in El Paso, Texas.
Yet other people may go directly to a mental health professional or community based resource, which is also a very good option to consider. Once you see the psychiatrist or mental health professional there are other complications in getting a mental health diagnosis.
A mental health diagnosis, unlike a medical diagnosis, is not based on a specific test that either confirms or eliminates the possible disorder, syndrome or condition. Instead the psychiatrist will complete different evaluations through talking to you, specific tests and scoring activities and even possibility through observation on an inpatient basis.
Accepting a Mental Health Diagnosis
Sometimes, even when a patient or a patient’s family receives a mental health diagnosis they don’t accept the findings of the mental health professional. This is often because of lack of understanding of the condition as well as lack of understanding of the treatment options available. It can also be because of concerns about being blamed for the diagnosis or by being shamed by the diagnosis.
The mental health professional will sit with the patient, and if appropriate, with the family, and discuss the mental health diagnosis and the treatment plan. In some cases there may be one diagnosis, so the treatment plan will need to be developed to include the dual or multiple diagnoses for the patient in El Paso, Texas.
