Just as you go to the doctor every few years for a physical or visit the dentist periodically for a cleaning, psychological well-being is equally important to overall health – and this is why regular mental health screenings should be part of a comprehensive care routine. In addition, these services can help you take control over your mental health, identify any problem areas that need to be addressed, and keep you feeling your best for years to come.

Whether in person or virtually, our behavioral and mental health experts are here to support you every step of the way. Get started today by finding your nearest Elite DNA location.

1. Early Detection of Mental Health Issues

The most common forms of mental illness can happen to anyone at nearly any point in their lives. Yet typically, the changes that lead to a diagnosis happen gradually, and many people will be unaware that their challenges are the result of an underlying mental health disorder.

Attending a mental health screening can connect you with a counselor who can assess for signs and conditions such as:

  • Depression
  • Anxiety
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • PTSD
  • Chronic Stress

When you detect these signs early, you can start taking action to prevent these conditions from getting worse or begin treatment to start your healing journey straight away.

2. Improved Mental Health Outcomes

Research shows that people who were screened for mental illness and identified their condition early typically have a much easier time achieving recovery in treatment. The first signs of mental illness can often be easily managed through work with a mental health professional, whether that be through therapy, medication management, or specific treatment interventions.

A mental health screening ensures that if you need treatment, you can start as soon as possible, ensuring that you start feeling better faster.

3. Increased Mental Health Awareness

People will often write off mental health symptoms as just a part of life, something that they need to power through on their own, or simply consider their challenges normal because they’ve never been told otherwise.

A key part of a mental health screening is helping people to become more aware of the symptoms and challenges that can be improved in their lives with just a few simple treatment options. When people are aware of common mental health conditions and their effects, they can seek out the support they need.

4. Reducing Mental Health Stigma

Stigma has long interfered with people getting the support and treatment they need from mental health service providers. People are often worried that seeking mental health treatment is a sign of weakness, that it will result in them being labeled as crazy, or that others will judge them for reaching out to a mental health center for support.

Regular mental health screenings can go a long way toward reducing this stigma, by normalizing the process of consulting with mental health professionals.

5. Access to Resources

At Elite DNA, we work to provide access to care by accepting neatly all insurance plans in Florida while also offering both telehealth and in-person appointments for your convenience. In addition, throughout Florida, there is an abundance of free or low-cost mental health resources available to support people in living their healthiest lives. Yet many people in Florida are still unaware of the resources that are available to them, when they become eligible for these resources, or how to get in contact with the agencies that provide them.

These resources come in many different forms, including:

  • Collegiate mental health programs
  • Government assistance programs
  • Crisis helplines
  • Non-profit organizations

Scheduling regular mental health screenings can help people become more aware of the resources and supports available in their areas – and feel more comfortable and confident reaching out to them when they need support.

6. Prevention of Severe Issues

If you’ve started to experience mental challenges, getting screened and treated straight away can prevent these issues from becoming more severe. Common mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, or post-traumatic stress disorder can quickly lead to destructive negative spirals, worsening dramatically in a period of weeks or months.

In the case of depression, for example, the first symptom people typically experience is a disruption in sleep. This can lead to a feeling of chronic fatigue, which saps your motivation for important hobbies or activities. Finally, this leads to depressive thoughts and moods, and an inability to return to activities that are known to be protective against depression, such as regular physical activity and socialization.

Through preventative mental health screenings, you can learn to identify these early symptoms and start taking protective actions before they begin to spiral out of control.

7. Enhanced Quality of Life

Mental health screenings aren’t just about identifying severe mental health conditions. Mental health professionals can provide support for many common daily challenges, from feeling like you don’t have enough social connection, to struggling with work-life balance, to learning healthy coping skills to deal with the frustrations of daily life.

Improving personal well-being is at the heart of any mental health screening, whether there is an underlying condition to be diagnosed or not. Meeting with a specially trained provider regularly can equip you with the tools to thrive in daily life, keep your mental health in top shape, and enhance your overall quality of life in the process.

8. Support for Families

If you have family members struggling with mental health challenges, regular screenings can provide you with the information and resources you need to support your loved ones in achieving recovery. Screenings can help you look out for mental health warning signs in children, provide you with actionable tools to support family members living with mental health challenges — or point you toward treatment options or other resources that can start your loved one on the path to recovery.

They can also support you with specific family challenges, such as helping to develop effective parenting skills or finding support groups for people who love somebody with a serious mental health challenge.

9. Cost-Effectiveness

The cost-effectiveness of mental health screenings ties directly into the benefits of early detection of mental health conditions. By identifying mental health challenges early, you can prevent costly mental health expenses such as inpatient hospitalization or residential treatment. These styles of treatment are typically what’s recommended for severe mental health conditions, but people with milder conditions will typically fare just as well in outpatient treatment, individual therapy, or medication management, all of which bear a much lower cost.

By making a regular appointment with mental health professionals to review your symptoms, check in on your mental health status, and address any new symptoms regularly, you’ll save yourself from any unexpected large mental health care costs in the future.

10. Community Health Improvement

When entire communities buy into the importance of mental health screenings, the entire community improves as a result. Not only are individuals getting the care they need to feel content, but community members can grow more understanding and accepting of people experiencing mental health challenges.

Community efforts can reduce the stigma associated with mental health care, make it more socially acceptable for people to speak about their mental health challenges, and prevent people from harming others due to misunderstandings or outdated beliefs.

Get Screened with Elite DNA

Our team is standing by to take your call and answer any questions you may have about mental health treatment, screenings, or resources in your area, and we will be there to support you throughout every step of your mental health journey. When your request support from Elite DNA, your first appointment will be with an intake specialist who will take your medical history, discuss your concerns, and help you get scheduled for your therapy and psychiatry appointments. Mental health screenings, or evaluations, are typically done by a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner. Therapy evaluations are for getting to know your provider, sharing your story, and jumpstarting your therapeutic journey.

When you’re ready to start your mental health screening routine, request an appointment at an Elite DNA site by finding a location near you and speaking with one of our representatives.

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