They Have A High Cost
The reality of the health system shows few mental health professionals in the population. This is an even bigger problem in public health, where mental health care is saturated. For this reason, many people resort to private health services, a cost that not everyone can bear.
They Require Effort
Psychological therapy involves changing the behaviors that we have learned, which is not easy. Proposing to carry out psychological therapy means facing the way of responding to situations that are easier for us, our habits, unpleasant emotions, etc. Those people who decide to change their behavior have to invest effort.
Then…. Psychopharmaceuticals Or Psychotherapy?
The choice of treatment in psychotropic drugs, psychotherapy treatment, or a combination of both depends on the problem being addressed.
In general, international associations such as The American Psychological Association (APA), or The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) propose psychotherapy as the primarily recommended treatment for problems such as depression disorders, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress. Likewise, psychotherapy is recommended as a priority treatment for minors or people with previous illnesses due to its lower impact on physical health.
Although, there are cases in which medication with psychotropic drugs is considered a fundamental axis, and the combination with psychotherapy is the best treatment. Examples of these cases are treatments for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or severe depression. In these cases, psychotropic drugs provide stabilization and improvement of the mental state, and psychotherapy facilitates recovery, better adherence to treatment, shorter treatment times, fewer relapses, etc.
In summary, both pharmacological and psychological therapy can be effective, and, for some people and cases, combining both treatments increases the therapeutic success of either one in isolation.
To know the best treatment in each case, it is essential to have an individual evaluation and advice from a professional psychologist because the choice of treatment will depend on each person’s specific circumstances.
Evaluation Of An Educational Family Intervention Program
An educational intervention strategy is presented in extended families belonging to the care area of the “Mario Escalona Reguera” Polyclinic of the Alamar District, Habana del Este municipality, in Havana City, applied to a group made up of representatives of each of the families that had previously been identified and selected from the family files of the offices of a Basic Working Group of said health institution. The natural and felt learning needs that the participants had about family functioning were identified, with which the design of an Intervention Program adjusted to said needs was achieved, which was developed by sessions based on the participatory communication method. The group in which progress was evaluated, effectiveness, and impact. A reduction in the learning needs of family functioning.
The life cycle was achieved, which translates into the incorporation of the knowledge obtained in the work sessions on the dynamics of the families involved, better preparation of the families, as well as a favorable modification of their diagnoses of family functionality determined by the Family Functioning Perception Test (FF-SIL). The program’s progress was classified as positive and exciting, according to the PNI technique (positive, negative, and interesting), and its participants always maintained a high emotional state and a willingness to participate. It was effective, as demonstrated by comparing the results of applying the instrument and the technique selected for this purpose. Its impact was also positive among the participants and family members, who expressed their expectations of improving their lives as a family group.
Educational family intervention 16It refers to the process that allows the family to receive information, produce knowledge on specific health issues and promote reflection. It intends to stimulate the adoption of healthy lifestyles and functional relationship patterns and adapt to changes, including health-disease changes. This type of intervention can be carried out in different community spaces. Cuba has a social infrastructure that allows this area to be used to work preventively in the family. Each community has health institutions (polyclinic, Family Doctor), which make available to the psychologist a dispensary population and other institutions that handle social problems.
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