Health And Well Being: Mental Healthcare

Evidence-based research literature emphasizes the requirement of effectively managing the psychosocial manifestations of various chronic conditions in the context of elevating their prognostic outcomes (Harkness, et al., 2010). These evidence-based interventions include the massage therapy, acupuncture approaches, behavioural remedies, life-style changes, behavioural modification approaches and community based strategies warranted for reducing the burden of mental illnesses across the community environment. The cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) emphasizes the configuration of cognitive and behavioural interventions in the context of controlling the pattern of stress and maladaptive behaviour experienced by the mentally ill patients. In fact, CBT holds the potential of controlling the manifestations of the mental conditions like bipolar disorder, insomnia, aggression, somatoform disorders, aggression and eating difficulties (Hofmann, Asnaani, Vonk, Sawyer, & Fang, 2013). Stress faced by the patients affected with substance abuse disorders and alcohol addiction requires treatment with the utilization of motivational interventions and contingency approaches directed by cognitive behavioural therapy.

Cognitive behavioural therapy is regarded as the best form of psychosocial intervention that effectively facilitates the modification of thoughts and feelings of the mentally ill patients for mitigating the pattern of their stress, depression and anxiety across the community environment (PubMed-Health, 2013). CBT also focuses on controlling the intensity and frequency of chronic pain experienced by the affected patients under the influence of their mental manifestations. Indeed, the active participation of patients in their therapeutic interventions necessarily required for enhancing the outcomes of CBT interventions. Healthcare professionals require configuring healthcare goals for the mentally ill patients while administering CBT interventions in the context of attaining desirable outcomes. CBT effectively facilitates the treatment of the manifestations of panic disorder; however, the appropriate evaluation of the pathophysiology and outcomes of the panic response warranted by the healthcare professionals for increasing the magnitude of the effect of cognitive behavioural interventions on the mentally ill patients (Otte, 2011). The randomized controlled trial by (Newman, et al., 2011) emphasizes the significance of emotional processing and interpersonal interventions in treating the manifestations of the generalized anxiety disorder across the community environment. However, cognitive therapy merely focuses on the behavioural modification techniques for controlling the manifestations of the diseases like generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), acute stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. However, the efficacy of the concomitant administration of CBT and interpersonal interventions by healthcare professionals for treating all forms of mental conditions is not yet proven through the evidence-based research findings.

Interventions facilitated by CBT assist the patients affected with PTSD in overcoming the state of their depression, anxiety and behavioural complications (Dorsey, Briggs, & Woods, 2011). These interventions attribute to the psychoeducation of the affected patients regarding the mitigation of anxiety manifestations and the long-term influence of trauma on the quality of life and psychosocial outcomes. CBT also focuses on enhancing the skills of patients in terms of undertaking effective modulation and relaxation interventions for reducing the establishment and progression of emotional and physiological stress caused by PTSD. Cognitive interventions also help PTSD patients in desensitizing their memories regarding the traumatic event and restructuring their maladaptive thought processes to facilitate the mental health outcomes. Evidence-based research literature advocates the efficacy of group CBT approaches in terms of reducing the intensity and frequency of the pattern of anxiety, depression and stress experienced by HIV positive patients (Sabet, Khalatbari, Khalatbari, Haghighi, & Ahmadpanah, 2013). Group CBT helps in reducing the experiences of social isolation, depression and adverse-perceptions among the HIV affected patients across the community environment. Furthermore, CBT approaches facilitate the enhancement of coping techniques and compliance to the treatment regimen among HIV – positive patients. The administration of stress management training through CBT assists in the development of the patterns of positive emotions among the female patients affected with the mental manifestations of breast cancer across the clinical settings. Acute stress disorder leads to the establishment of conditions like insomnia and debilitating physical outcomes among the affected patients. The administration of CBT with supportive counselling and hypnosis intervention assists the effective mitigation of the manifestations of acute stress disorder among the mentally ill patients. However, considerable patients affected with mental manifestations fail to develop positive responses after the administration of cognitive behaviour therapy by the healthcare professionals across the clinical setting. The administration of CBT approaches to the economically underprivileged, uneducated and alcoholic groups of society in many clinical scenarios leads to minimal improvement in the pattern of depression, hyperarousal, social functioning and avoidance, as advocated by the findings in evidence–based research literature (Kar, 2011). This absence of response to the cognitive behavioural therapy among the selected patient groups is the biggest shortcoming that requires effective mitigation with the organization of prospective research studies in the context of improving the scope of efficacy of CBT across the community environment.

The research findings by (Foa, 2010) indicate the effectiveness of CBT approaches in improving the pattern of depression and anxiety experienced by the patients affected with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) across the community environment. CBT strategies administered with real life and imaginal exposures/ritual prevention and processing techniques promise to facilitate the enhancement of mental health outcomes among patients affected with OCD and their associated manifestations. The real life exposure assists the OCD patients in overcoming their obsessive thoughts and negative apprehensions that resultantly lead to the episodes of distress and anxiety among the affected patients. Similarly, the imaginal and ritual prevention strategies assist the affected patients in confronting their adversity and stress-provoking thoughts and fearful situations. The cognitive behavioural therapy assists the OCD patients in evaluating their worries and the time – interval and content of their obsessions in a real time environment. The cognitive behavioural therapist then effectively administers behavioural strategies and highlights the thinking errors in front of the affected patients to make them realize the serious faults in their thought processes. The systematic execution of these cognitive experiments on the OCD patients and the subsequent discussion of the findings help them in refraining from the negative thought processes that eventually elevate their mental health outcomes across the community environment. Evidence-based research literature emphasizes the significance of CBT in effectively modulating positive changes in human brain physiology for controlling the pattern of anxiety among patients affected with social anxiety disorder (Goldin, et al., 2013). The cognitive rehabilitation leading to the effective modification in the process of cognitive reappraisal leads to the development of better emotional control and reduction in negative beliefs among the affected patients. The gradual and sustained exposure of the fearful situations for the mentally ill patients assists them in effectively reviving themselves from the adverse psychosocial manifestations of the social anxiety disorder across the community environment. 

Evidence-based research literature emphasizes the positive implications and significance of Internet – based cognitive behavioural interventions in improving the mental health status of the patient population (Andersson, 2010). Utilization of Internet application for administering CBT to the eligible subjects helps them in accessing the treatment at distant locations and customizing interventions in accordance with their clinical history and mental conditions. The web network provides extended connectivity of the mentally ill patients and their caretakers with their respective physicians and assists in executing the follow – up sessions in the absence of face – to – face visits across the clinical settings. Contrarily the Internet based CBT elevates the probability of inappropriate diagnosis and suitability assessment by mental health experts that might lead to the administration of incorrect clinical interventions to the mentally ill patients. The clinical findings by (McHugh, Hearon, & Otto, 2010) emphasize the requirement of concomitant administration of operant learning and motivational approaches with the pharmacotherapeutic interventions in the context of facilitating the wellness outcomes among the patients affected with the pattern of substance use disorders. Community – based CBT approaches advocate the participation of the family members and friends of the mentally ill patients in the context of configuring a favourable environment to reduce the pattern of substance abuse and its eventual manifestations. Therefore, administration of combinatorial CBT approaches promises to generate the desirable treatment outcomes while reducing the scope of the establishment of serious mental diseases across the community environment.

Cognitive behavioural therapy assists the mentally ill patients in modifying their sensations, thoughts and feelings, and helps them in controlling their adverse psychosocial manifestations. This behavioural therapy focuses on addressing the mental health problems in multiple steps and helps the affected patients in dealing with stressful situations in a real time environment. The most common mental health conditions treated with the administration of CBT include the pattern of insomnia, panic disorder, OCD, PTSD and substance addiction. The combination of CBT approaches with the pharmaceutical interventions increases the scope of acquisition of wellness outcomes among the mentally ill patients. The administration of CBT with training interventions generates the pattern of self – sufficiency among the mentally ill patients and helps them in effectively utilizing various coping strategies for overcoming the stressful situations in life. However, the disadvantages of CBT include the inefficacy of this therapy in treating the complicated and life threatening mental health conditions and the necessary requirement of patient’s willingness to participate in treatment sessions while collaborating with the mental health experts and other healthcare professionals. The organization of prospective clinical research is therefore highly warranted in the context of further exploring the scope of possible modification in CBT approaches for acquiring the desirable wellness outcomes among the mentally ill patients.

Andersson, G. (2010). The promise and pitfalls of the internet for cognitive behavioral therapy. BMC Medicine, 8(82). doi:10.1186/1741-7015-8-82

Dorsey, S., Briggs, E. C., & Woods, B. A. (2011). Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Children and Adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 20(2), 255-269. doi:10.1016/j.chc.2011.01.006

Foa, E. B. (2010). Cognitive behavioral therapy of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 12(2), 199-207. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181959/#ref7

Goldin, P. R., Ziv, M., Jazaieri, H., Hahn, K., Jazaieri, R., & Gross, J. J. (2013). Impact of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder on the Neural Dynamics of Cognitive Reappraisal of Negative Self-Beliefs. JAMA Psychiatry, 70(10), 1048–1056. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2013.234

Harkness, E., Macdonald, W., Valderas, J., Coventry, P., Gask, L., & Bower, P. (2010). Identifying Psychosocial Interventions That Improve Both Physical and Mental Health in Patients With Diabetes. Diabetes Care, 926-930.

Hofmann, S. G., Asnaani, A., Vonk, I. J., Sawyer, A. T., & Fang, A. (2013). The Efficacy of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: A Review of Meta-analyses. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 36(5), 427-440. doi:10.1007/s10608-012-9476-1

Kar, N. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder: a review. Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 167-181. doi:10.2147/NDT.S10389

McHugh, R. K., Hearon, B. A., & Otto, M. W. (2010). Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Substance Use Disorders. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 33(3), 511-525. doi:10.1016/j.psc.2010.04.012

Newman, M. G., Castonguay, L. G., Castonguay, T. D., Fisher, A. J., Boswell, J. F., Szkodny, L. E., & Nordberg, S. S. (2011). A Randomized Controlled Trial of Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Generalized Anxiety Disorder with Integrated Techniques from Emotion-focused and Interpersonal Therapies. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 79(2), 171-181. doi:10.1037/a0022489

Otte, C. (2011). Cognitive behavioral therapy in anxiety disorders: current state of the evidence. Dialogues in Clinical Neuroscience, 413-421. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3263389/

PubMed-Health. (2013). Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0072481/

Sabet, A. H., Khalatbari, J., Khalatbari, M. A., Haghighi, M., & Ahmadpanah, M. (2013). Group Training of Stress Management vs. Group Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy in Reducing Depression, Anxiety and Perceived Stress Among HIV-Positive Men. IJPBS, 4-8. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3939984/