Types of Mental Health Support

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Broadly, there are three types of mental health support that are available, depending on your needs. If you’re unsure, you can reach out to the first-stop touchpoint like Community Outreach Teams (CREST/CREST-Youth).

Counselling

Helps you cope with issues and solve problems such as academic stress, relationship issues, and major life changes.

Psychotherapy

Helps you understand and change unhelpful patterns of thought, feelings, and behaviours to treat specific mental health conditions and disorders.

Specialist Services*

For individuals with more intensive mental health concerns, treatments like psychiatric medicine, rehabilitation, or emergency services might be recommended. *Parental consent is required for these services if you’re 18 or younger.

Learn more about the common types of treatment here

There are three key things you should note about mental health treatments:

1.

They are not meant as a cure-all, but can help manage mental health conditions.

2.

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to treatment. The same medication or therapy that works for someone else may not be effective for you.

3.

Different people may take different amounts of time to recover. Don’t let other people's recovery process demoralise you or influence your own mental health journey.

Duration of Treatment

The length of treatment varies from one person to another and is usually dependent on the nature and severity of your mental health condition. Here are some important things to consider when undergoing treatment:

Treatment length should be discussed with your therapist or doctor, but it is often tentative and may be revisited during the course of treatment.
It is common for therapists to require a few rounds of assessment before they can suggest a treatment plan for you.
It’s important to follow your healthcare professional’s recommended treatment duration before deciding that a particular course of treatment isn’t working.
Treatment successfully ends when you have achieved the goals you’ve agreed upon with your therapist or doctor.