There are a number of factors that influence our overall mental health and wellbeing, and these factors go beyond the thoughts and emotions that we experience.
Because of the nuanced nature of mental health, at Calming Currents Psychiatry, we value taking a holistic approach in assessing and treating mental health conditions to understand individuals as a whole as well as the unique factors influencing their mental health.
Taking a holistic approach to assessment and treatment helps to foster connection between the clinician and the patient, allows us to evaluate areas of your life negatively or positively impacting mental health, guides us in forming an accurate diagnosis, and provides us the opportunity to create a treatment plan that is individualized and evidence-based to help improve your mental health and overall wellbeing.
Factors influencing mental health can be divided into three main categories: biological, psychological, and social. Combined together, this is known as the biopsychosocial model for mental health care and is a guiding principle in how we approach mental health care.
Biological Factors:
Biological factors influencing mental health include physical things that have an impact on our biologic or chemical makeup that place us at higher risk for developing mental health conditions. These factors include things such as age, genetics/family history, sex, quality and quantity of sleep, diet, physical activity, substance use, physical health conditions, and anything else that has a physical impact on our brains or bodies.
Psychological Factors:
Psychological factors influencing mental health include things that impact our mind or thoughts, such as how you perceive yourself and the world around you, your baseline and daily level of stress, personality traits, self-efficacy, coping skills, the emotions you experience, history of trauma, stigma or discrimination, and more.
Social Factors:
Social factors influencing mental health encompass all of the things happening in our lives outside of our brain and body that have an impact on overall mental health including financial status, relationships, social support or isolation, housing and food security, human rights, employment, pets, nature, education, access to healthcare, cultural influences, policies at the local and national level influencing our lives, and more.
In conducting a thorough assessment to evaluate the biological, psychological, and social factors in your life, we are better able to tailor treatment to address your unique needs which in turn provides better outcomes.
We know that medications are only one piece of the puzzle in treating mental health conditions, and having an in depth understanding of your life can allow us to do things like prescribe the appropriate medications for your mental health, provide recommendations to improve physical health, help to reduce substance use, teach coping skills for managing stress, process current stressors, give referrals for specialized therapy, or get you connected to community resources to help with employment, food, or housing, which all undoubtedly impact mental health.
To schedule your mental health evaluation today you can either request an appointment here or call/text us at 715-402-4562.