How To Find Mental Health Services in your Community Center

Mental health services are already offered by most local community centers and hospitals. But as there are various mental health service providers, their approaches and methodologies are varied as well.

Some health service centers classify their services into classes of mental disorders.

1. Anxiety disorders - Anxiety disorders are the most common disorders treated in different mental health services summing up to 50% of the cases reported. Anxiety disorders include: panic disorder, agoraphobia (without panic), specific phobia, social phobia, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder, and separation anxiety disorder.
2. Mood disorders - Mood disorders are disorders affecting the patient’s emotional mood. Mental health professionals classify the illness of the famous and gifted Dutch artist who died of suicide, under this bracket.
3. Impulse disorders - Impulse disorders usually occur among young children up to the adolescence period. Generally between ages 7 to 15, impulse disorder affects the impulsiveness of a person. The following are included in this bracket: oppositional defiant disorder, conduct disorder, ADHD or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and intermittent explosive disorder.
4. Substance related disorders - Substance related disorders pertain to substance abuse and substance dependence. However, this bracket relates to the over indulgence and dependence from drugs and other chemicals deemed harmful to health. Substance related disorders include: alcohol abuse, alcohol dependence, drug abuse, and drug dependence.

Other mental health centers approach mental disorders according to services:

1. Community assessment services - Centers of community assessment services are responsible for providing mental health and substance abuse assessments and referrals to walk in participants and communities.
2. Detoxification programs - The primary goal of detox programs is to prevent the pain, discomfort, and other potential psychiatric and medical problems that can result from stopping an individual from alcohol or drugs addiction.
3. Mental health programs - Mental health services provide various programs such as case management, outpatient mental health services and medication management. These services also include therapies in individual or group setting.
4. Outpatient - Most outpatient treatment includes: random drug/alcohol testing; assessment, screening, parenting education, anger management; drug-free counseling, detoxification referrals, and domestic violence programs. Treatment methods for outpatient services also involve referrals to other community-based services after discharge, educational services, group counseling, HIV education, individual counseling.
5. Prevention and services for older adults - In general, older adults use more drugs because of their weaker health than any other age bracket. Thus, they are at high risk for drug and substance related problems. Mental health centers are now geared for such treatment.

Mental health services in your local community health centers usually handle extended treatment where the individual lives at the treatment site for the whole duration of the treatment. This is referred to as residential services. Services range from helping in the recovery for any disorder to converting a completely drug and alcohol-free lifestyle, improvement skills for employment readiness, parenting and social living, and physical and spiritual recovery. Youth treatment services in local community health centers provide services after school hours and on Saturdays.