Treatment

The goals of treatment are to reduce symptoms of emotional disorders; improve personal and social functioning; develop and strengthen coping skills; and promote behaviors that make a person's life better. Biomedical therapy, psychotherapy, and behavioral therapy are basic approaches to treatment that may help a person overcome problems. There are many specific types of therapies that may be used alone or in various combinations.

Treatment and support may be provided in psychiatric hospitals, clinics or any of a diverse range of community mental health services. Often an individual may engage in different treatment modalities. A strong sense of being part of an interdependent society in developing countries makes the community-based treatment model the most effective mode of treatment. A combination of community-based treatment and the use of typical antipsychotic drugs have been found to yield the most positive, cost-effective results. Individuals may be treated against their will in some cases. Services in some countries are increasingly based on a Recovery model that supports an individual's personal journey to regain a meaningful life.