It’s not uncommon to feel disheartened by the time it can take for treatment to be effective. This can sometimes result in people ending treatment too soon or becoming too relaxed in maintaining their treatment program.
If you do not feel you are progressing towards recovery, make sure you raise this with your doctor or mental health practitioner. They can review your progress, discuss your concerns and consider changes to your treatment plan.
It's important that you feel comfortable with those providing treatment. This comfort improves the likelihood of productive ongoing engagement with treating professionals, which further supports your recovery. If this is not the case, consider asking your GP for a referral to a different practitioner. This is quite common. Mental health professionals understand that they, or their approach, may not always be the right fit for every client.
If you have already spoken with your treating doctor and are not satisfied, you may wish to seek a second opinion. There are many practicing doctors and mental health specialists and you may find one whose approach fits better.
If you are feeling discouraged, remember counselling is not necessarily a quick fix. It can take weeks or months to help you learn new strategies or to address contributing situations. At first the changes may be subtle. You may notice, for example, that you are better prepared to handle things that used to worry you. Eventually you may find the whole way you think of yourself and the way you perceive and respond to the world changes for the better.
Remember too that when speaking with a health professional you may have mixed reactions. It may be that you feel calmer and clearer about your concerns. However, it's not uncommon to feel confused, stressed, or sad. This may be because the session has raised sensitive or painful issues for you. It may take a number of visits to begin to manage these concerns. If this is the case, it is a good idea to talk with the psychologist about your reactions and the best way to manage them.
It's important to remember that medication does not work overnight. It can be between four to six weeks before the medication starts to take effect and reduce symptoms. Once the best medication and dosage has been established, a maintenance dose may be determined to help avoid a return of symptoms. This may be needed for some months or longer, depending on need.
A lack of improvement can be a result of not following the treatment plan as designed. Once you have found the right professional, you’ll achieve optimum results if you attend all appointments, no matter how you feel on the day, and follow their advice. There are often things that you can do between sessions to support your recovery. Make sure you ask for advice in this area.
In general, be open and honest with treating practitioners about your needs and progress. It can be hard to advocate for yourself in this way, but this approach can improve treatment outcomes. Recovery takes work, but this work will give you the skills to maintain your health once recovered.
