If you or a loved one are dealing with a mental illness, it may seem like there is no hope for recovery. This simply isn’t true. There are many different mental health treatment centers that help patients overcome mental illness.
What are mental health treatment centers?
Mental health treatment centers are facilities that provide tools for people to recover from psychological problems in a caring environment. Mental health treatment centers usually have psychiatrists, nurses, psychologists, and other professionals on staff to treat illnesses like depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, eating disorders, and dual diagnoses.
Depression treatment centers
Obsessive compulsive disorder treatment centers
Whether inpatient or outpatient, mental health treatment centers treating obsessive compulsive disorder use cognitive behavioral therapy extensively. In cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), an individual works to identify and alter the thoughts and beliefs that cause OCD symptoms like obsessive thoughts and compulsive actions. CBT helps patients apply rational analysis to the illogical views and anxieties of OCD, to evaluate whether they are justified. These mental health treatment centers may also use antidepressants, to decrease the anxiety that causes OCD.
Eating disorder treatment centers
Traditionally, eating disorder mental health treatment centers were inpatient facilities where patients lived while receiving treatment Today, many people recover from eating disorders in outpatient programs. Eating disorder therapy focuses on restoring the patient to a healthy weight, dealing with psychological issues that led to the eating disorder, and developing skills for dealing with stress that could cause relapse. Eating disorder mental health treatment centers also have nutritionists on staff, to help patients learn to eat healthy.
Dual diagnosis treatment centers
Dual diagnosis is a combination of an alcohol or drug problem and a mental illness like 
depression, anxiety disorder, or bipolar disorder. The two conditions are usually related; for example, a patient may begin drinking or using drugs to cope with anxiety. Dual diagnosis mental health treatment centers combine elements from substance abuse recovery and mental illness treatment. Dual diagnosis treatment at a mental health treatment center typically takes longer than other treatments, because the psychiatric illness must be addressed because substance abuse recovery can begin.
When looking for a mental health treatment center, it is key to choose one that has a well-tested program for treating the disorder that you or a loved one are suffering from. Each psychiatric illness requires a unique course of treatment.