Depression Treatment: How to Seek Help for Depression

Seeking Treatment

Question 1

The ever-growing interest and use of complementary and alternative medicine have sparked debates on why people prefer CAM therapy. CAM incorporates an extensive set of medicinal therapies of distinct modalities, practices and health systems ( Sirois et al., 2016 ). Scholars have focused on studying the persistent use of CAM by particular groups. Indeed, many Americans are using CAM especially those that have troubles in meeting the budget of conventional care. The high cost of health care is outdoing inflation and salaries and so it is likely that the majority are opting for CAM because of the same reason. Only a third of the Americans were using CAM in 1990. The fraction of use increased twice in a span of 12 years. CAM is widely used by whites as compared to African-Americans among other groups. Further, research suggests that certain CAM therapies embrace a positive reframing of cancer experience, especially amid whites. CAM is associated with enhancements in hopefulness, purpose in life and positive changes ( Sirois et al., 2016 ).

Question 2

Usually, mental health is considered a special matter that concerns an individual. Yet, mental health is influenced by a combination of cultural, biological factors and psychology. The adversity in these factors tends to influence a person’s health decisions in seeking medical care. Mental illness can be more prevalent in certain cultures ( Al-Krenawi, 2019 ). In turn, the medical decision in seeking treatment is influenced by cultural influences. Unlike the Whites, African American is known to handle distress on their own or seek for religious support. Subsequently, some biological factors such as sex contribute to poor health decisions for women. Generally, women have higher-care utilization than men ( Song, 2019 ). Even so, they are more likely than men to delay treatments or not seek treatments at all. Also, psychological distress is more prevent in females. The self-consciousness and the will to reveal mental health status are more relevant factors amid females. These factors can be used by health practitioners for behavioral measures. A health psychologist can be of great help when an individual is struggling to make the right healthy changes to deal with the health problems. More so, the inclusion of Christian counseling in health psychology can enhance mental health. Christian counseling builds on God’s teachings to enact behavioral changes that are more acceptable.

References

Al-Krenawi, A. (2019). The Impact of Cultural Beliefs on Mental Health Diagnosis and Treatment. In  Culture, Diversity and Mental Health-Enhancing Clinical Practice  (pp. 149-165). Springer, Cham.

Sirois, F. M., Salamonsen, A., & Kristoffersen, A. E. (2016). Reasons for continuing use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) in students: a consumer commitment model.  BMC complementary and alternative medicine ,  16 (1), 1-9.

Song, I. (2019). Biopsychosocial Approaches to Mental Health.