Treatment Options

I thought I should go over some treatment options for disorders like mine (binge eating and bipolar). Most psychiatric disorders have similar treatment options. While the content of treatment may vary, the setting and format are usually very similar between disorders. I'm going to list some options, attempting (key word, there) to put them in order from least to most severe.

Support Groups are groups of people with similar issues that get together to offer support and insight to one another. Many times these are non-profit (they are not expensive but may request donations) and often there is no professional leader. Some examples include Overeaters Anonymous (http://www.oa.org/) and support groups affiliated with the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance (http://www.dbsalliance.org/)

Group Therapy involves a group of people with similar issues participating in therapy led by a professional. The advantage that Group Therapy has over Support Groups is that the professional can ensure that the group's discussions are productive and constructive. The disadvantage is that Group Therapy involves formal fees, although health insurance may cover all or part of them.

Individual Counseling includes various forms of mental health counseling, occupational therapy, nutritional counseling (dietitian) and any other form of therapy or counseling that relate to a person's disorder. Many times the patient would meet with the counselor anywhere between once a week and once a month. This is a good option because it offers one on one personalized attention by a professional but is less time consuming and costly than other options.

Psychiatry involves a psychiatrist (a doctor that has additional training in mental health) meeting with a patient to diagnose disorders and prescribe medication. Many people are hesitant to take medicine, and while everyone has the right to make that choice, sometimes there is truly a physical chemical imbalance that needs to be treated with medication. I know personally that although my psychiatrist and I haven't found the perfect balance of medication for me yet, the medicine I am taking is helping a lot.

Partial Hospitalization involves a patient spending a number of hours certain days of the week in a hospital treatment setting, and going home every night to be with his or her family and to practice what he or she is learning. This is much more intensive because the patient spends many more hours a week in treatment. It's also convenient because the patient gets many forms of treatment in one place: group therapy, individual counseling, and sometimes psychiatry. This is what I am going to be participating in.

Residential Treatment occurs when a patient goes to stay for a period of time at a non-hospital treatment center. This offers 24 hour support including all of the treatment aspects of partial hospitalization, but it's not as intense or severe as complete hospitalization. I've always been very interested in this option, but it is very expensive and many insurance policies do not cover it.

Hospitalization is for patients that need acute care. It it includes all the treatment aspects of partial hospitalization and residential treatment at a much more intense level.  Many times patients will be discharged from hospitalization and then participate in partial hospitalization or residential treatment as a transition.

I hope that this has been a good overview of treatment options, and that it helps you understand some of the differences.