What should someone with pre-existing mental health issues do about regular clinic check-ups?

If you are suffering from a preexisting mental health condition and you regularly visit a mental health clinic, there are numerous things you need to be careful for. COVID-19 has resulted in an increase in known risk factors for mental health problems by making them more unpredictable and uncertain; lockdown and physical distancing might lead to social isolation, loss of income, and loneliness. To add on, if you regularly visit mental health clinics, stay away from crowds, regularly sanitize your hands, and wear a mask. If you are affected by a psychological distress, it will improve over time and going to a mental health clinic will help you. Since there is a mental health condition involved, regular checkups are very important as they will give you an insight on your health everyday and how to prevent certain health issues. Regular checkups do help, but being physically active will also help your mental condition. Moreover, make sure your environment is friendly and you allow yourself to give space indoors and outdoors.

Many professionals and services can help you improve or maintain your mental condition, and can diagnose, treat, and help prevent mental illness with the help of therapy. Although psychiatric medications don't cure mental illness, they can often significantly improve symptoms. Psychiatric medications can also help make other treatments, such as psychotherapy, much easier. Working together, you and your primary care provider or mental health professional should decide which treatment is the best for you considering your symptoms and their severity, your personal preferences, and the medication’s side effects. Along with your preexisting mental health condition, keep up with personal hygiene, eat healthy meals at regular times, exercise regularly, allocate time for work, and make time for doing things you enjoy.

To conclude, ending your consistent checkups at a clinic or with your mental health professional is a harmful option, but also considering the time we are in currently, it is important to practice social distancing as much as possible!

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Author: Ommum