Treatment options
For some people who have experiences of psychosis treatment can provide additional support and help with the intensity and frequency of those experiences. Although there are several treatment options for individuals who are experiencing psychosis the standard approach in the NHS includes early intervention services, medication, psychological therapy, crisis services and hospital services. Expand the sections below for more information.
Early intervention teams: These teams include a mixture of professionals, for example nurses, doctors, and psychological therapists. They are designed to support individuals who are having experiences of psychosis for the first time. They give this support for a limited amount of time, though this can be for several years.
Medication: There are a range a medication that can be offered, usually anti-psychotic medication. The choice of which medication in this class is made in discussion with you and the prescriber.
Psychological therapy: You will ideally be offered some form of therapy. There are several that have been found to benefit people experiencing psychosis, for example cognitive behavioural therapy and eye-movement desensitisation and reprocessing (EMDR). You may have to join a waiting list for therapy or be told to wait until you are feeling more settles because therapy can be intensive. Therapy is a choice, and you can decide whether it is right for you.
Crisis and hospital services: Crisis services may be involved if you are struggling to manage at home. This involves professionals meeting with you regularly to assess your needs and provide support. This type of service is short-term (days to a few weeks).
In some cases, where someone cannot manage at home or there is a risk to themselves or others, hospital admission may be considered or legally enforced. This involves admission to a mental health ward for assessment and treatment. This will vary depending on an individual’s situation.
Thinking about treatment
There are lots of things to think about when deciding whether treatment is an option for you. Medication is widely understood to help reduce the impact of experiences of psychosis for many people but there can be a process of trial and error to find the right medication.
One of the key aspects to treatment is the relationship the person has with the therapist or clinician. Early intervention services often focus on this therapeutic alliance because it is so important for beneficial outcomes. Getting the right support can take a while since the first therapist or clinician may not be the best fit, again this may take some trial and error. Also, there are several types of therapies and knowing what is available in your area may be a determining factor in whether you want to engage with it.
It is widely thought that both medication and therapy together provide the most beneficial support. However, some individuals would prefer one or the other, rather than both, and this should be offered as an option. Some people may find that they are not given the choice about what treatment they have because they are being treated compulsorily under the Mental Health Act.
It can be daunting to think about what treatment you would prefer, the courses below consider the topics of medications, therapy and the Mental Health Act in more detail. You can access them all via the main courses page.
- To learn more about medications go to the Know Your Medication course.
- To learn more about therapy go to the Introduction to Psychological Therapies course.
- To learn more about the use of legislation in treatment go to the Exploring the Mental Health Act course.
Relapse planning after a crisis
Not everyone who seeks treatment has a crisis but for those that do having a strong plan in place for what to do in the future can be a beneficial step.
Mental health services have a duty, in England, to make sure that all individuals under their care have a crisis plan. The structure of this may vary but should include information tailored to the individual about what things to look out for, strategies that have helped in the past and who to contact in a crisis.
These types of plans are an important part of learning the stages or phases that each individual goes through leading up to a crisis with the intention of acting quickly in the future to try and avert a crisis from occurring again, this is also known as relapse planning.
For more information about things you can do in a crisis go to the Coping with a Mental Health Crisis course which you can access via the main courses page.
Consider more:
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