Healthinmind/Getting Services

When Should Someone Seek Help?

When should people seek help for a "mental" problem? People need help any time they are chronically unhappy or out of control. Just as when they are physically sick, they have to make a decision about whether it is better to seek medical attention right away or try to "wait it out." People may feel trapped, alone, and helpless. They may be consumed by anxiety or worry, be unable to sleep well or keep up with their jobs or responsibilities. They may be unable to control their anger, gambling, eating, or use of drugs or alcohol. They may have a relationship problem that they can't solve. They may be so sad and unhappy that they contemplate suicide. Under any of these conditions, or if they are just dissatisfied with their lives and can't find a way out, they should consider getting professional help. 

Two factors that are often considered, but that should never keep people from seeking help, are embarrassment or a belief that nothing can help. Some people come from cultural backgrounds that make them ashamed to admit that they, or their friends or family members, have mental problems, just as some people are ashamed to admit that they are HIV positive. The opposite should be the case; seeking help for problems demonstrates an enlightened attitude and should be a source of pride. The former Surgeon General of the United States, David Satcher, recently said in the 51st Surgeon General's Report that treatment of mental problems is now approximately as specific and effective as the treatment of physical problems, and he argues that distinguishing between mental and physical health is destructive. Yet a person who would hasten to the doctor if he had a chest pain may stubbornly refuse to seek help for severe alcoholism that poses a far more severe threat to his whole life.

Unfortunately, too many times people wait for an emergency before they look for help.  This excerpt from a story from the San Francisco Examiner for July 26, 2000, illustrates what can happen when people wait too long to do something about mental problems.

"A Richmond police officer shot and killed a man early yesterday after he allegedly brandished a knife at police, authorities said. The shooting happened after the suspect, George Dontae Mitchell, 26, called 911 at 2:45 a.m. to report that he was feeling depressed and wanted to harm his family on Hartnett Avenue, police said. By the time officers arrived, Mitchell had broken the windows of the home and ransacked the interior, said police Sgt. Enos Johnson. A veteran officer, whose name was withheld, shot Mitchell once in the upper torso when he charged at several officers about 3 a.m., Johnson said.  Mitchell was pronounced dead at Doctors Medical Center in San Pablo."

Similar stories are told hundreds of times every year in the United States alone. These needless deaths could be prevented in most cases if the afflicted person had received professional help, or perhaps if police departments had better, non-lethal, ways of handling threats by disturbed people. Although only a small percentage of people with mental disorders behave in violent and threatening ways, most people with mental disorders can benefit from treatment, and all of them deserve the chance to make their lives better. In the most extreme cases, the treatment can literally be life-saving.