PCH Treatment Center takes leading role in treating mental illness

(Patients Experience Profound Improvement thanks to Unique Holistic Psychological Approach)

According to the World Health Organization, 25% of American adults suffer from some form of mental illness and half of the population will eventually develop the abnormal alterations in thinking, mood or behavior associated with such conditions. With cuts in federal funding and, limited resources available from insurance companies and a lack of treatment options, patients and their families are often left to their own devices to find the help they need. To the uninitiated, this can be a daunting proposition as they attempt to sift their way through the various treatments that may take the form of therapy, diagnosis from a family physician who might prescribe medication, psychiatric intervention and, in the most serious cases, costly hospitalization.

But there is newfound hope and it comes in the form of holistic psychological treatment. Patients suffering from a range of conditions from depression, OCD and anxiety disorders to bipolar disorder, schizoid personality and schizophrenia are experiencing dramatic improvement thanks to a program developed by renowned psychologist Jeff Ball, Ph.D. At PCH Treatment in West Los Angeles, patients undergo individual and group psychoanalysis, a physical fitness program, yoga, biofeedback and arts & music therapy. Medications are dispensed when deemed necessary and not as the primary line of treatment. Both inpatient and outpatient programs are available depending on each patient’s individual needs.

“Since the early 1980s when the fed cut spending for treating mental illness, the problem has worsened. Treatment options are fewer and oftentimes ineffective and the problems associated with such conditions are pervasive, affecting not just the patients and their families but society as a whole,” said Dr. Ball, a frequent lecturer in the mental health community. “At PCH Treatment, we are seeing profound improvement by healing our patients holistically – not simply medicating their symptoms. It is a model that I hope will take hold nationally.”

Perhaps the most significant roadblock to the advancement of mental health treatment in the U.S. was President Reagan’s repeal of Jimmy Carter’s Mental Health Systems Act in 1981, which pulled the plug on much of the funding that helped those suffering from psychiatric illness. Instead of receiving the treatment they needed, many patients were mainstreamed into general society with hopes that they could integrate. Now, the options for care often are mostly limited to hospitalization (very costly) or being prescribed heavy medications and some psychiatric therapy.

Another disturbing post-1981 trend is the fact that many primary care physicians are treating those with mental illness (mostly depression and anxiety), although this is not consistent with practice standards. And perhaps most disconcerting is the growing power of the pharmaceutical companies that often fund the very clinical studies that test the efficacy of their own drugs. These pharmaceutical companies also have undue influence on diagnostic measures, such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition, which just came out. The majority of people are not aware that a program like PCH Treatment exists, offering containment and psychological treatment without the stigma or risks of a psychiatric hospital.

“It is important that the mental health community work together to develop holistic psychological based treatment programs for their patients as the results are nothing short of remarkable,” said Dr. Ball.

For more information about PCH Treatment, call 888-724-0040 or visit www.PCHTreatment.com.