Page 21 - Complementary and Alternative Medicine Treatments in Psychiatry

Promoting Wellness in Mental Health: The CAM Approach in Psychiatry | 21

A client who is told there are other possible modalities of
treatment—such as CAM therapies that can boost chances of
symptom reduction or recovery—is given hope.
Even if a treatment fails, if other options are on the horizon,
this expectation can keep a patient working toward wellness and
putting one foot in front of the other on the road that may lead
to partial or full recovery. It can even cause the patient to make
improvements in his lifestyle as he strives to do his part in the
recovery effort.
For many, hope is the most powerful medicine of all.

Summary

Of all the fields of medicine, few require as holistic a view as
psychiatry. So many variables can impact mental and emotional
function—and so many approaches can improve it—that the
psychiatrist of today is hard-pressed to keep abreast of the
investigational and therapeutic tools at his disposal.
Additionally, the societal push which has created the demand
for CAM is a desire for greater wellness and overall health. This
means that pharmaceutical treatments in psychiatry, which can
bring with them dramatic side effects such as metabolic
syndrome, renal failure, anorgasmia, and obesity, are being
reevaluated by some as to whether they should always be a first
and only form of treatment.
In pursuing true recovery and wellness, the CAM approach
offers the practitioner a large arsenal of options for
progressively working towards a state of wellness for his client.
With an understanding of the therapeutic tools at his disposal,
the clinician’s—and the client’s—chances of success are
markedly improved.