Improving the field of psychology in 2017

The concept of mental health is rapidly growing more popular in many parts of the world. People are rightly realising that their mental states are directly correlated with their ability to lead healthy, happy lives. When problems such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) or eating disorders begin to infiltrate people’s lives and take over their thoughts and behaviours, solutions are sought to increase their chances at fighting these diseases.

The common mistake that is ordinarily made, however, especially in the UAE, is resorting to psychiatrists, exclusively. The problem with doing this is that many psychiatrists find drugs to be the inevitable answer to most problems, which can potentially create further dilemmas and consequences. Individuals afflicted with depression and anxiety become reliant on Xanax, insomniacs who have trouble sleeping end up needing regular high dosages of Panadol night and the addictions never cease. People who depend on psychiatrists end up placing their sanity in the hands of these helping professionals and rather than resort to chemicals as a cure, a more holistic approach to mental health is undoubtedly the optimal choice.

In order to treat patients most effectively and positively, psychiatrists and psychologists need to work together in order to create a treatment plan that will be most beneficial. Should one’s psychologist refer a patient suffering from a specific problem to a psychiatrist in order to fix a chemical imbalance, that patient needs to maintain sessions with both helping professionals for the purpose of avoiding addiction and creating a long-term solution instead of a temporary fix.

The field of mental health has the potential not only to save lives, but also to prevent downfalls and deterioration. In order to do that, both professionals in the field, as well as the general population, need to recognise the importance of integrated work and treatment plans. Rather than focus on one approach, such as a biomedical one, for example, a biopsychosocial approach would undoubtedly prove to be the most useful as it tackles all aspects.