There’s a movement in health care that seeks to connect the mind’s health to the well-being of the body. It looks at the cause and effect of specific behaviors. This positive development has led to a new behavioral health definition. How does this affect people struggling with a mental health condition?
Understanding the Behavioral Health Definition
For far too long, there’s been a divide in health care. One side dealt only with the physiological aspects of your wellbeing. A doctor would treat broken bones and high cholesterol. On the other end of the spectrum is the mental health care provider who would focus on your emotional health.
However, by not connecting them, healing could be prolonged and ineffective. For example, let’s say that you’re not drinking enough water. A doctor will monitor your hydration. But what happens if you have a phobia to water?
Granted, this is a hypothetical example, but it shows the importance of a multi-disciplinary approach. Eating habits, water intake, healthy lifestyle choices, and stressors affect your mental and physical health. Mental health conditions frequently have a physiological component. Moreover, many bodily health issues have psychological roots.
How to Make This New Understanding Work for You
You no longer have to segment your search for wellbeing. Instead, you can now combine mental and physiological health care. At a mental health clinic, you get the answers you need. Care specialists use numerous approaches to care such as:
- A psychiatric evaluation as a baseline for the development of a care protocol
- Psychotherapy that deals with a broad range of mental health disorders
- Addiction help for program participants with a dual diagnosis
- Pharmacological support for mental health challenges as well as substance abuse disorders
- One-on-one talk therapy that offers a variety of approaches to your condition
You can then take the understanding of your mental health and involve a care provider who specializes in physiological care. Both therapies now work together to boost your overall well-being. That said, for some people, this process works the other way around. They learn about a health condition that may be chronic.
If they have a doctor who understands behavioral health, they receive a referral for mental health care, too. Many doctors now realize that struggling with a chronic condition can lead to other problems such as depression. By seeking out help proactively, you can tackle the mental health challenge early on. It can significantly boost your quality of life.
Don’t Wait with Getting Help
Mental health disorders tend to get worse if you don’t deal with them. Frequently, people don’t react to them in healthy ways. Rather than getting help, they might try to self-medicate. That’s usually a bad idea.
Now that you know about the behavioral health definition, you can begin to work with experts in the field. Turn to the mental health team at PACE Springfield in Virginia. This clinic provides a broad range of mental health care services to people just like you. You can learn more about PACE Springfield VA today by calling 866-303-1938. Make an appointment today.
