• Question: What do you think is the biggest issue within attempting to reduce the symptoms of some mental health disorders?

    Asked by anon-216410 to Robert, Olly, Nicola, Jasmin, Dennis, Caroline on 12 Jun 2019.
    • Photo: Caroline Brett

      Caroline Brett answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      It can be difficult to understand where some mental health disorders come from – things like depression can result from a combination of multiple factors such as circumstances, life events, thoughts, and many others and so treating the root causes can be extremely complex. We are learning more all the time about what causes people to have difficulties with their mental health

    • Photo: Oliver Clabburn

      Oliver Clabburn answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      That sometimes symptoms are really hard to pinpoint and explain to other people. For example, how do you explain the feeling of excitement to someone? What about feeling nervous? The physical symptoms are really quite similar, but identifying the thing that is different/negative can be really challenging.

    • Photo: Dennis Relojo-Howell

      Dennis Relojo-Howell answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      I think it’s whether to use medication or to use psychotherapy. Usually, mental health professionals deliver them in combination. But choosing just one approach can be a huge issue.

    • Photo: Robert Dempsey

      Robert Dempsey answered on 12 Jun 2019:

      For me, the biggest issue is that we don’t always have a clear understanding of the ways in which poor/good mental health comes about, especially in terms of the psychological factors which reduce or promote mental health. Without understanding what causes poor mental health, or protects against developing a mental health issue (like a resilience factor), I don’t think we will be successful in terms of improving mental health outcomes. I think this is why we need psychological approaches to understanding mental health experiences and why we need good quality, peer-reviewed research to help us develop an evidence base for treatments.

    • Photo: Nicola Johnstone

      Nicola Johnstone answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      Having the flexibility to deal with individual differences. Much of the research underpinning treatment options is based on outcomes from studies that look at groups of people. But, as we know, individual circumstances are important and should be considered in treatment.

    • Photo: Jasmin Moon

      Jasmin Moon answered on 13 Jun 2019:

      Sometimes for unknown reasons, a person’s symptoms just don’t seem to respond to any treatment and they remain mentally unwell despite really trying to get better.
      This is a really big issue to try and overcome and obviously very frustrating for the person.
      In this situation I would encourage the person to continue talking about how they are feeling and make sure they include some self care in their day. Mindfulness can also be very helpful in these situations.

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