What is a Quality Mental Health Visit Today?
We know what to expect from health visits to clinics and hospitals.
All of us, after years of physicals, vaccinations, surgeries, treatments, and any number of things, know what a medical visit looks like, and how it’s supposed to go. We know what to listen for, what we’re supposed to do, and how we’re supposed to be treated. Many of us have the same doctor or health care provider for many years, and come to trust them.
So what does a mental health visit look like?
Many of us have never had a medical session for a mental health challenge. Plenty of us have had therapy or counseling, but what about TMS? Ketamine? EEGs? A combination? What should we expect when being seen for our mental health, and what should we look for to know we’ve had a good, beneficial appointment?
At Alivation, the first indicator is quality. Everyone deserves a good experience. We all deserve the best care, and we deserve to have our mental health concerns taken seriously. We don’t brush off health here, or say “it’s all in your head” as a hand wave. It’s okay if it’s all in your head. If it troubles you, then it’s a problem. If your quality of life has decreased because of it, then you need assistance.
Many people have an inaccurate view of mental health treatments. It’s usually somewhere between an expensive therapy session with a leather couch and an unclean asylum with straight jackets. Neither are accurate. Alivation, for instance, is a clean, welcoming facility with expansive hallways, plenty of light, and lots of friendly team members who want to listen and help. All our patients deserve this environment, the better to feel safe and be well.
A mental health visit should include not only diagnosis and treatment, but further options as well. You should be listened to, and your treatment plan should reflect your lifestyle, your goals, and your time. It should reflect who you want to be, not only who you can be. It should reflect what will help your family, and what will help you on your continuing wellness journey. Our help shouldn’t stop at the door. The help or treatment we give you should help in every facet of your life.
What’s more, you should expect all these things. You should expect a great experience. You should be uplifted and helped, not bored, tired, or guilty. You should feel like you’ll be better when you’re here, not like you’re wasting your time or money. A quality mental health visit isn’t just about the appointment or the treatment, but the entire experience around it too. At Alivation, we guarantee that.
Football, COVID, and Mental Health
We’ve had a lot of changes this year.
COVID has changed our entire landscape in just a few months. Everything we used to know and take for granted has changed. Traditions and pastimes are being forced to evolve, often in ways we can’t fully predict. And perhaps the biggest change has been to our athletic and sports schedules.
It’s very likely, for the first time in our lives, Husker football season will be canceled. At the very least, it won’t be played the way it has in the past. This has caused a lot of anger, confusion, sadness, and defeat in the local and national press. Anger at the Big 10, or Husker management, or the university itself over this decision. Most are simply sad that a hallowed, enjoyed pastime isn’t happening in a year that has already cost us all so much.
We accept and back science at Alivation. We accept the wisdom of shutting things down, or limiting exposure and wearing masks. We support being proactive and saving lives however we can. We won’t weigh in on the decision to cancel football or other events. But we’ll weigh in on the mental health aspects of its absence.
It’s entirely possible to be both accepting of the decision and lamenting it. We all would’ve been better off with an autumn without COVID, like many other countries. We can accept the decision to cancel football as being part of the greater good while also being upset that we won’t get to participate in our traditions.
A season without football is a strange, possibly empty thing. It’ll likely cause depression for many, and increase the anxiety for others. It contributes to a feeling that the world around us has changed for the worse, and our desired normalcy is now elusive. We might also be dreading the boredom that’ll continue without it. It fills a place in many of our lives. It functions as a social exercise, allowing us to bond with others over stadium seats, tailgates, bars, restaurants, and living rooms. We treasure the communal aspect of it.
Despite all this, it’ll be okay. We can still bond with each other, still enjoy company and traditions. We’ll do it more safely than we have in the past, and be more mindful of our social distancing while also incorporating masks into our routines. It’ll be necessary to still live our lives, to still go on and find the good things that make us happy. We might even find new pastimes in the meantime, new things to occupy our time. Maybe some of us will discover new hobbies or skills, new things we enjoy that help us decrease our anxiety and depression.
Safety for all is critical, not just physical, but mental. Understanding challenges and heartbreak is as important as understanding flattened curves and transmission rates. We need a whole-body approach to our health, and to our lives. This year, we can take the opportunity to do that in a meaningful way. We can fill our lives with beneficial changes as we wait for the world to come back. And it will.