Choosing the Right Program at a Depression Treatment Center
Depression is a challenging mental health condition that requires immediate attention. While doctors can prescribe effective treatments, the outcome may vary from person to person. Also, it is important to know that there are several depression treatment centers available that can help the loved one recover from it. It is also important to keep in mind that all is not lost, and it is possible to overcome depression with the right kind of treatment.
Prospective depression rehab options
Rehab programs for depression are quite varied and can come in different forms. This can hence make it quite confusing and overwhelming when you are searching for the best possible program for your loved one.
It is vital that you understand the differences between various rehab options offered at a depression treatment center before you can come to a conclusion about the program that will best suit your loved one’s needs. This article discusses different programs available at depression treatment centers:
Hospital inpatient treatment
This is probably the first option that is taken into consideration for treating depression. What many people fail to realize is that hospitals play a very different role when it comes to treating depression.
The treatments that are administered in hospitals vary significantly across different institutions. However, the majority of depression treatment programs at hospitals focus on short-term containment and stabilization of psychiatric distress. Although this treatment works out for many people, it does not mean that the patient is discharged from the hospital as soon as he/she is considered to be out of danger to themselves and to others.
Hospital inpatient treatment also leans towards patients who are undergoing severe mental health disorders. Hospitals also do not provide the soothing kind of environment that the patient needs in order to get better. In fact, short term hospital admissions can end up being traumatic rather than therapeutic for most of the patients suffering from mental stress and depression.
Short-term residential treatment
If your loved one is a person who does not need extensive functional support, then this program can be ideal for him/her. Short-term residential treatment programs capture the essence of a broad variety of depression rehab types. They essentially offer residential care in a non-hospital setting in order to provide more intensive treatment.
You will need to bear in mind that the structure and quality of these facilities can vary widely, right from being understaffed to having high-quality and cutting edge programs to treat depression. They specialize in providing a personalized treatment experience in a short amount of time in order to facilitate rapid healing.
These centers can hence be the ideal place for your loved one when it comes to healing. Typically a patient’s stay can range from anywhere between 30 to 90 days where the patients get an in-depth assessment. But you do need to understand that short term programs do have their limits and their duration might not be sufficient for a patient to fully recover.
Long-term residential treatment
This program is best suited for patients struggling with clinical depression, but they tend to be elusive. There are very few long-term centers in the country and many people are simply unaware of their existence.
They are designed with treatment programs that have a duration of 12-18 months. During this period the patient undergoes in-depth psychological assessment as well as innovative therapies that are tailored in order to suit their particular needs.
These programs also implement milieu therapy that is not done in short-term treatment. The structure and pace of these programs hence allow for extraordinary breakthroughs for many patients.