Action Plan For Relapse Prevention

Some people have a hard time accepting treatment for depression. Your family member or friend may not believe that treatment will help him, may not recognize the need for treatment, or may just plain refuse to go. He might also reject offers of help from anyone. Get off my back, Nothing anyone can do will help, and Nobody understands. Knowing that someone needs treatment but encountering their strong resistance to it can put you in a difficult position. There are only suggestions based on families’ experiences. Families struggle tremendously trying to convince their loved ones to seek treatment. It is one of the most difficult things people face. Why would someone who desperately needs treatment refuse it? There are several reasons. Your family member or friend may believe that seeking help from a mental health professional means he’s a failure. It’s hard for someone who has always been able to deal with his own problems to accept help. It may make him feel vulnerable and inadequate.

From Me to You

And because of the distorted, negative thinking common in depression, he may perceive any efforts to help as intrusive. Your family member or friend who has depression may be concerned about the financial burden of receiving treatment. He might fear being judged unfairly, criticized, or negatively labeled because of his illness and cut off socially. This is known as the stigma of mental illness. He may fear becoming dependent on or addicted to medications, dread the side effects they can create, or believe that psychiatric drugs will change who he is. He might also believe the rumors that he will feel like a zombie or lose his creativity on medications. Perhaps your loved one is afraid of the strong emotions that treatment may bring up. This is a common fear in people with mood disorders. Maybe his concerns are based on mistaken beliefs about depression and its treatment. So what can you do when your family member or friend rejects your help or refuses to go for treatment? Begin by emphasizing that you love him and are concerned about him. Try to calmly explain exactly what you see in him that is different from his usual self. Provide specific examples.

We Hide To Try Our Feelings

You might approach it by saying something like, You seem to be more down than usual in the past few weeks, and I notice you’re not sleeping well. I’m concerned about you. He can help. Tell him why you think it’s important that he seek help. Mention the symptoms of depression or bipolar disorder he has and point out that treatment may help relieve them. Make him aware that these symptoms and his problems will not improve on their own and that some savvy help may be necessary for him to feel better. Try to be firm, steady, and persistent. If misinformation about mood disorders and treatment is behind his reluctance to see a mental health professional, provide him with accurate information about his illness. Gaining information is a powerful tool to counteract resistance. Having knowledge about his illness makes things less scary and may help reverse your family member’s resistance to treatment. He might just feel overwhelmed by the whole idea of going to see a mental health professional. This is where you can help by calling to schedule appointments and arrange health insurance coverage, if required.

The Big Picture

Search out the names of a few mental health providers in your area and let him decide which he will interview. If he’s anxious about going the first few times, offer to go along and sit in the waiting room. You might suggest that he prepare for the appointment by organizing his questions and issues on paper or on a smartphone ahead of time. Do whatever you can to discourage his excuses, remove any obstacles, and make it easier for him to go. You cannot force a person into treatment unless he is in crisis or, in the rare case, you need to take legal steps to ensure his safety. For example, in the extremely ill, this might mean getting a court order to ensure he takes his medications. While it’s difficult to do, respect his right to refuse your help or treatment unless you believe he could harm himself or others. Parents or guardians can try to use their influence to get an adolescent into treatment. This may be easier said than done. This issue is the cause of many more family disruptions. You may have to adopt a tough love approach. Getting him to stay in therapy may be quite another challenge, influenced in part by his relationship with the therapist and the traits of his age group. Try to give your adolescent a sense of personal control by allowing him to make some of the minor decisions about his treatment. This has been an effective strategy in many families. In addition, emphasize that treatment may help him reach some of the goals he’s been talking about. If the person who has depression is a young adult, a spouse, a sibling, or a parent, your options are more limited. You cannot force a child over the age of 18 or other family members to seek treatment. His medical encounters are private, and you have limited access to speak with his health care providers. This is to respect his privacy. Use the strength of your personal connection to him and gentle pressure from other family members to persuade him to seek treatment. A family meeting with his health care provider may finally convince him. Try to focus your comments on your family member’s strengths and positive qualities. There is one thing you can try if he has previously been in treatment and is now experiencing a relapse or recurrence. Encourage him to adopt the terms of a Treatment Contract, or Action Plan for Relapse Prevention, with his mental health provider. You may have some success in getting your family member to abide by his own words in this document and in this way return to treatment.