What To Look for in a Mental Health Facility Near Me

“Mental health is a basic human right.” 

This assertion from the World Health Organization (WHO) affirms just how important mental health is to your entire well-being. It’s instrumental in shaping what you think and feel, contributes to your cognitive development and factors into how we cope with stress, make decisions, build relationships, realize your personal value, sense of self and our place in the world. 

Our bodies and minds are intrinsically connected, so your mental health is an integral part of your physical health, too. A positive mindset and healthy mental state contribute to taking better care of yourself and making better lifestyle choices that can keep you physically healthy, like exercising, eating well and avoiding substance abuse.  

Poor mental health can also increase the risk of physical ailments like heart disease, diabetes and stroke, as well as depression or anxiety that can affect the body. 

Unfortunately, mental health continues to be misunderstood, overlooked and even stigmatized in society, possibly due to fears of prejudice, discrimination or being harshly judged, which can cause one to delay or put off mental health treatment. Data from Johns Hopkins University shows that about one in four adults suffers from a diagnosable mental disorder — but 56% (27 million people) do not seek or receive help. 

And for many people, whether diagnosed or undiagnosed, the search for a mental health facility near me is the first step to recovery, to set your compass toward better mental health.  

But if you’ve never entered therapy before, much less lived onsite at an inpatient mental health facility, what can you expect? What does it involve, and more important, what should you look for in the right mental health clinic? 

What Is a Mental Health Facility? 

The WHO states that mental health “exists on a complex continuum,” and a mental health facility operates on the same wavelength, offering a complete spectrum of professional care for a wide range of mental health disorders, many of them closely interrelated: 

• Generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD 

• Panic disorder 

• Depression 

• Bipolar disorder 

• Borderline personality disorder 

• Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD 

• Schizophrenia 

• Paranoia 

• Eating disorders 

Mental health disorders often go hand in hand with substance abuse disorders. Called co-occurring disorders, someone struggling with both can receive what’s called a dual diagnosis, where both conditions are treated on one therapeutic track at a mental health clinic. 

Mental health facilities are also structured according to the needs of its patients: 

• The “inpatient” in residential inpatient mental health facilities means that you live in the facility for an agreed-upon period, ideal for people with more severe mental health conditions that require devoting a 24/7, daily focus to treatment. An inpatient facility offers a safe space filled with compassion and care and without triggers or negative sensory stimuli. 

• Outpatient mental health facilities, or OP for short, is an option for people who are segueing out of an inpatient program, or those with more manageable mental health symptoms. An OP program enables you to attend treatment during the day while returning home at night. 

A Washington State mental health facility like Royal Life Centers at Chapter 5 is also a men’s-only center focusing on their unique recovery needs. 

What Are the Benefits of Mental Health Care? 

The right mental health care is not just about abating symptoms, but helping you feel stronger, more complete, to emerge from care feeling transformed and approaching life from a newfound perspective. Some real benefits you can expect from time spent in mental health treatment include: 

First, you’ll gain a better understanding of your mental health, since treatment provides deeper insight into what’s really going on. What are the root causes of your symptoms? How can you understand them better?  

Mental health challenges can make you feel stuck in cycles of worry or sadness or lead one to pursue unhealthy habits. Through clinical mental health counseling, you can work to reframe negative thought patterns, replace them with healthier ways of thinking and use those insights in your daily life. 

Through treatment, you’ll develop lifelong coping skills like mindfulness, stress management or better communication techniques. These are not quick fixes, but new, valuable tools at your disposal. Now, in a situation that may have caused anxiety or a panic attack, you know, through your mental training, how to respond and take command of a situation — to not only feel like yourself again, but discover a stronger, more confident and resilient version of you. 

Mental Health Disorder Treatment Programs  

Mental health treatment is not a one-size-fits-all approach; since everyone is individual with unique personalities and physiologies, conditions can manifest themselves in different ways for different people. Therefore, mental health treatment needs to be acutely focused and specialized to treat various disorders:  

Anxiety Disorder Treatment 

The most common mental illness in the U.S., more than 40 million people suffer from various anxiety disorders each year, notes the Anxiety & Depression Association of America (ADAA) (and more than 3 million men have panic disorder, agoraphobia or other phobias). Find treatment for all of them at a mental health clinic. Male-focused treatment like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and group sessions focus on the underlying causes of anxiety and how to take back control of your life through stress management techniques. 

Depression Treatment 

Over 6 million men suffer from depression per year, notes the ADAA, but male depression often goes underdiagnosed. Depression can severely impact your daily functioning, lead men to abuse drugs or alcohol, exhibit aggressive behavior and engage in suicidal ideation. Mental health treatment, as its name suggests, is about getting you mentally healthy again. Think of it like a workout program combining psychotherapy and holistic therapies with activity therapy and other modalities to help you get physically, emotionally and mentally strong again. 

Trauma and PTSD Treatment  

PTSD can take hold after experiencing a traumatic event or series of events, such as assault, physical, verbal or emotional abuse, surviving a car crash or natural disaster, losing a loved one or enduring the rigors of war. And men are likely to display PTSD symptoms of higher levels of distress with hypervigilance. PTSD treatment focuses on healing these emotional wounds. Therapies you may find at a mental health facility can include trauma-focused CBT, eye movement desensitization therapy and group therapy, where like-minded peers can share their experiences and bond in a safe, healing space.  

 Personality Disorder Treatment 

The ADAA says that 2.3 million Americans are affected by bipolar disorder (BD) each year, where an equal number of men and women develop the illness. The age of onset for men, according to the ADAA, is between 16 to 25 years old, which can remain undiagnosed and untreated for decades, making one’s symptoms a part of their life that can feel unshakeable. However, treatment for BD and other personality disorders is real and effective, through a combination of DBT therapy and others to help with emotional regulation and crafting new coping skills.