Conseils en matière de santé mentale

• Can I talk to a doctor on Gotodoctor.ca about my mental health condition ?

Yes, Gotodoctor.ca provides virtual care services for mental health conditions and provides counselling for those who are in need. A doctor will take a comprehensive history of your mental state and may provide you with prescriptions. Depending on the severity of symptoms further recommendations will be provided. If a patient is suffering from a serious mental health condition, the doctor will direct him/her to clinic treatment.

• What are mental health disorders?

Mental health is the state of well-being in which one can cope with the stresses of life and can work productively in the community^[1]. Stressful life, stigma and discrimination leads to mental health disorders. Generalized anxiety, work stress, mood switching, losing memory and eating disorders are some of the underlying etiology behind mental health disorders^[4]. Counselling is the best way to address certain mental health conditions^{[5, 6]}.

• What are the symptoms of mental health disorders?

Mental health disorders can be presented with sleep or appetite changes, mood changes, depressed feeling and loss of interest in activities of daily living. A doctor will be able to diagnose mental health disorders by identifying characteristic symptoms^{[7, 8]}. Decline in personal care, rapid and dramatic shifts in mood and anti-social behavior indicate the need for counselling by the doctor^{[9, 10]}. 

• How are mental health conditions treated?

A doctor decides on treatment and need of counselling after taking a comprehensive history of the patient. Treatment of mental health disorders depends on the underlying cause and investigations should be done to find out the root cause. First of all, life-threatening conditions are excluded by the doctor. Stress and anxiety relief medications may be prescribed to make the patient free of symptoms arising from depression, sleep deprivation etc^{[11, 12]}. Doctors and counsellors often see patients on ongoing treatments for trauma, addiction and mental well-being services^{[13, 14]}. Prescriptions for anti-depressant and muscle relaxant medications may be provided the patient suffers from anxiety disorders, and prescriptions for anti-epileptic drugs may be provided for mental health disorders and various conditions including panic attacks at the clinic^{[15-17] [18]}.

• How can an online doctor on Gotodoctor.ca treat mental health and provide counselling?

Online doctors in Gotodoctor.ca treat mental health conditions through virtual care services. An appointment can be easily made with an online doctor^[19-27]. But a doctor should be cautious, as deteriorating mental health status may be an indication of a more sinister condition such as Schizophrenia, so it should be excluded first before initiating treatments. An online doctor will take a comprehensive history of your signs and symptoms and may provide you with prescriptions. Prescriptions can be obtained by online doctors. Virtual care services provided by Gotodoctor.ca assure comfort, convenience and a higher level of care for the patient.

References

1. Claringbull, N., Mental health in counselling and psychotherapy2011: SAGE.
2. Pearlin, L.I., Stress and mental health: A conceptual overview. 1999.
3. Levy, B., et al., Stigma and discrimination: A socio-cultural etiology of mental illness. The humanistic psychologist, 2014. 42(2): p. 199.
4. Health, N.C.C.f.M., et al., Common mental health disorders: identification and pathways to care. 2011.
5. Gazzola, N. and J.D. Smith, Who do we think we are? A survey of counsellors in Canada. International Journal for the Advancement of Counselling, 2007. 29(2): p. 97-110.
6. Oravec, J.A., Online counselling and the Internet: Perspectives for mental health care supervision and education. Journal of Mental Health, 2000. 9(2): p. 121-135.
7. Gehrman, P., et al., Predeployment sleep duration and insomnia symptoms as risk factors for new-onset mental health disorders following military deployment. Sleep, 2013. 36(7): p. 1009-1018.
8. Freeman, D., et al., Virtual reality in the assessment, understanding, and treatment of mental health disorders. Psychological medicine, 2017. 47(14): p. 2393-2400.
9. Marshall, E.A., et al., Refugee youth: A review of mental health counselling issues and practices. Canadian Psychology/psychologie canadienne, 2016. 57(4): p. 308.
10. Sunderland, A. and L.C. Findlay, Perceived need for mental health care in Canada: results from the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey-Mental Health2013: Statistics Canada Ottawa.
11. Song, H.-t., et al., Effects of sleep deprivation on serum cortisol level and mental health in servicemen. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2015. 96(3): p. 169-175.
12. Uchiyama, M., et al., Poor recovery sleep after sleep deprivation in delayed sleep phase syndrome. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences, 1999. 53(2): p. 195-197.
13. Bower, P., S. Jerrim, and L. Gask, Primary care mental health workers: role expectations, conflict and ambiguity. Health & social care in the community, 2004. 12(4): p. 336-345.
14. McLeod, J., An introduction to counselling2003: McGraw Hill/Open University Press.
15. Mojtabai, R. and M. Olfson, Proportion of antidepressants prescribed without a psychiatric diagnosis is growing. Health Affairs, 2011. 30(8): p. 1434-1442.
16. Virtanen, M., et al., Work stress, mental health and antidepressant medication findings from the Health 2000 Study. Journal of affective disorders, 2007. 98(3): p. 189-197.
17. Harden, R.N. and C. Argoff, A review of three commonly prescribed skeletal muscle relaxants. Journal of back and musculoskeletal rehabilitation, 2000. 15(2-3): p. 63-66.
18. Ilyas, S. and J. Moncrieff, Trends in prescriptions and costs of drugs for mental disorders in England, 1998–2010. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2012. 200(5): p. 393-398.
22. Almathami, H.K.Y., K.T. Win, and E. Vlahu-Gjorgievska, Barriers and Facilitators That Influence Telemedicine-Based, Real-Time, Online Consultation at Patients’ Homes: Systematic Literature Review. J Med Internet Res, 2020. 22(2): p. e16407.
23. Bokolo Anthony, J., Use of Telemedicine and Virtual Care for Remote Treatment in Response to COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Medical Systems, 2020. 44(7): p. 132.
24. Deldar, K., K. Bahaadinbeigy, and S.M. Tara, Teleconsultation and Clinical Decision Making: a Systematic Review. Acta informatica medica : AIM : journal of the Society for Medical Informatics of Bosnia & Herzegovina : casopis Drustva za medicinsku informatiku BiH, 2016. 24(4): p. 286-292.
26. Wang, X., et al., Impact of Telemedicine on Healthcare Service System Considering Patients’ Choice. Discrete Dynamics in Nature and Society, 2019. 2019: p. 7642176.
27. Williams, O.E., et al., The use of telemedicine to enhance secondary care: some lessons from the front line. Future healthcare journal, 2017. 4(2): p. 109-114.