ADHD

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a brain disorder that is typically characterized by a lack of impulse control, an inability to focus and pay attention, and hyperactivity. ADHD most commonly emerges in children and teens and can continue into adulthood. In fact, ADHD is the most common mental health disorder diagnosed in young people and sufferers often have trouble paying attention in school. ADHD must be diagnosed by a qualified clinician. In addition to medical interventions, seeing a mental health practitioner who specializes in the treatment of ADHD can help patients and their families better cope with many of the symptoms. Contact us today.

Anger Issues

Blowing up or losing your cool once in a while doesn’t necessarily mean you have an anger issue. But if you find yourself experiencing long-term feelings of anger or rage, which may also include aggressive, violent or self-destructive behaviors, you may be facing an anger management issue. Those experiencing anger issues may also have physical symptoms including high blood pressure, headaches, or fatigue. Whether your anger issue is caused by stress, genetics, hormones or your current environment, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Contact us today.

Anxiety

Feeling a certain level of anxiety over big stressors or certain life events is totally normal. However, if you find that your fear or worry does not go away and, in fact, gets worse over time, you may be suffering from an anxiety disorder. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling and often passes quickly, while severe anxiety can seriously affect your day-to-day life. If you are finding your anxiety unmanageable, can’t identify the cause of your anxious feelings or if you are suffering from physical symptoms (such as heart palpations, fatigue, sweaty hands, upset stomach, or insomnia), it may be time to get help.

Autism Spectrum Disorders

Autism is a developmental disorder, typically emerging in childhood, which affects a patient’s ability to effectively socialize and communicate. Therapists qualified in the treatment of Autism can also help to diagnose it, as well as work with the individual on their social skills, help them learn to control emotions and address repetitive behaviors, among other things. If you or your child has received a diagnosis of Autism (or you suspect one may be forthcoming), contact us today for support.

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition characterized by episodes of mood swings ranging from depressive lows to manic highs. Formally known as manic depression, bipolar is a serious condition that can cause dangerous behavior, including suicidal tendencies. The manic and depressive periods can be brief (hours or days) or last several weeks or even months. Bipolar disorder is typically treated with a combination of therapy and medication. If you are suffering from bipolar disorder (or suspect you might be), contact us to get help today.

Depression 

Depression is a mental health disorder that can affect the individual’s mood, including how one feels, thinks, and behaves. While one could feel sad sometimes, it is when it starts to affect the ability to perform daily tasks and the ability to enjoy things that typically would bring the individual happiness, that one could be suffering from depression. The symptoms of depression vary from person to person, but often include feeling miserable without a clear reason why, anxiety, agitation, insomnia or sleeping too much, hopelessness, changes in eating, and/or foggy thinking. Depression could also cause recurrent thoughts of death or suicide (or even a wish that it would all 'stop' in an abstract sense). If you think you might be suffering from depression, a qualified mental health clinician can help. Contact us today!

EMDR 

“Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference. It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal. 

EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  

More than 30 positive controlled outcome studies have been done on EMDR therapy.  Some of the studies show that 84%-90% of single-trauma victims no longer have post-traumatic stress disorder after only three 90-minute sessions.  Another study, funded by the HMO Kaiser Permanente, found that 100% of the single-trauma victims and 77% of multiple trauma victims no longer were diagnosed with PTSD after only six 50-minute sessions. In another study, 77% of combat veterans were free of PTSD in 12 sessions. There has been so much research on EMDR therapy that it is now recognized as an effective form of treatment for trauma and other disturbing experiences by organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association, the World Health Organization and the Department of Defense. Given the worldwide recognition as an effective treatment of trauma, you can easily see how EMDR therapy would be effective in treating the “everyday” memories that are the reason people have low self-esteem, feelings of powerlessness, and all the myriad problems that bring them in for therapy. Over 100,000 clinicians throughout the world use the therapy.  Millions of people have been treated successfully over the past 25 years.”

Source:

https://www.emdr.com/what-is-emdr/

If you are interested in getting EMDR via telehealth, reach out to us today!

Family Caregiving Stress

Providing ongoing care to a family member with chronic or disabling conditions can be incredibly difficult. Family caregiver stress occurs when a caregiver becomes so focused on the needs of their loved one (in this case a family member) that they aren't aware of their own well-being. Symptoms of caregiver stress include irregular sleep patterns, fluctuations in weight, and feeling overwhelmed, tired, irritable or constantly worried. To manage family caregiving stress, it can help to seek support from others that are in a similar situation (e.g. a support group), or work with a professional to practice self-care, set realistic goals, set boundaries, and learn to accept help. If you are experiencing the stress of caring for a family member, reach out to us today.

Trauma

Trauma refers to emotional and psychological wounding caused by traumatic experiences or events. Trauma can lead to substance abuse, depression, anxiety, anger, violence, suicide, and alcoholism. If you are feeling the effects of trauma, reach out to us today.

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Insomnia

Insomnia, defined as persistent problems falling and/or staying asleep, can be caused by many things, including mental health and medical conditions, stressful life events, bad sleep habits, specific substances, or even certain genetic factors. Whatever the cause, an inability to get the sleep you need can be incredibly hard to deal with. Insomnia can make you feel exhausted all day and it can also cause irritability, anxiety and problems with concentration or memory. The good news is that behavioral therapy for insomnia has been proven as an effective treatment for chronic sleep problems and is often recommended as the first line of defense. If you are having trouble with insomnia, reach out to us today.

Medication Management

For some individuals, a major aspect of the treatment process for mental health disorders is medication. While not right for everyone, psychotropic medications could be a gamechanger for many who are struggling with mental health illnesses, such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. While medications don’t provide a cure, they can assist in treating symptoms that can be debilitating and help to improve daily functioning. If you are currently taking medication, or think you might need it, consulting with a qualified psychiatrist or a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner is a great first step. Psychiatrists and psychiatric mental health nurse practitioners can prescribe psychotropic medications and assess that the medications you are taking are working effectively (and in some cases, provide psychotherapy). Reach out to one of ICAN Telehealth’s medication management experts today. 

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a chronic and long-lasting anxiety disorder in which a person has uncontrollable, reoccurring thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions) that he or she feels driven to do repetitively. People with OCD may have symptoms of obsessions, compulsions, or both. Common activities include things like hand washing, counting of things, and checking to see if a door is locked over and over. Obsessive thoughts might center around thinks like an excessive concern about germs or forbidden sexual or religious thoughts. As opposed to people with “bad habits” or “negative thoughts”, symptoms of OCD can’t be controlled for more than a short period of time and typically interfere with school, work and personal relationships. People with OCD typically spend at least an hour a day on obsessive thoughts or behaviors. OCD is a serious condition and is associated with an increased risk of suicide. If you are suffering from OCD (or think you might be), reach out to us today. 

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that's triggered by a traumatic, scary or dangerous event. PTSD can be caused by either witnessing or experiencing the trauma. Events that sometimes trigger PTSD include everything from sexual assault, war, and violence, to car accidents or other incidents that could cause loss of life. It is not at all uncommon for people who go through something traumatic to have temporary difficulty coping and acute symptoms, but with time, they usually get better. However, if the symptoms last longer than a month, get worse rather than better and affect your ability to function, you may be suffering from PTSD. Symptoms of PTSD may include severe anxiety, anger, nightmares, trouble sleeping, flashbacks to the event, frightening thoughts, avoidance of situations or places, feeling on edge and/or being easily startled. If you think you may be experiencing PTSD, reach out to us today to get help.

Psychosis and Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders

The term psychosis covers a set of related conditions, of which schizophrenia is the most common. Psychosis symptoms include hallucinations, delusions (strongly believing things that aren’t true), confusion, racing thoughts, disorganized behavior, and catatonia. In order to receive a diagnosis of schizophrenia, a patient must first exhibit signs of psychosis.  However, schizophrenia often comes with many other symptoms, beyond psychosis, such as a loss of motivation, withdrawing from your life, feeling emotionless or flat, or struggling to complete the basic daily function of life (like showering). If you think you might be suffering from psychosis or schizophrenia, reach out to one of ICAN Telehealth’s experts today.

Stress

Stress is an important part of life. In fact, it can be critical to our survival. Stress triggers the “fight or flight” response that can let us know we are in danger. However, too much stress for too long can compromise our mental and physical health. Everyday stressors, such as work, finances, family issues or relationships can spiral out of control. If you are feeling overloaded or struggling to keep up with the demands of your life, you might be experiencing stress. Stress can be controlled, but recognizing stress symptoms can be elusive. Things like low energy, headaches, insomnia, low self-esteem, difficulty relaxing, constant worrying, feeling overwhelmed or changes in appetite can all be symptoms of stress (among many others). If you think you might be dealing with chronic stress, working with a qualified mental health professional can help. Reach out to us today.

Suicidal Thoughts

If you are currently experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 1-800-273-8255 or 911 for help.

Suicidal thoughts, also known as suicidal ideation, means thinking about or planning suicide. Suicidal thoughts are typically in response to feeling that there is no solution to current problem or no end in sight to current pain. Suicidal thoughts are common – many people experience them at some point. However, these thoughts are temporary and passing in nature. If you are having recurrent suicidal thoughts, it likely won’t get better on its own. It’s important to remember that suicide is preventable. Even the most chronic suicidal thoughts and feelings can be resolved with time and support. Reach out to us today. If you are in immediate danger of hurting yourself, call 1-800-273-8255 or 911 for help.

Job Stress

Our jobs and careers are an important part of our daily lives and can bring us a sense of connection, accomplishment and fulfillment. However, jobs – even dream jobs – can also be incredibly stressful. And ongoing, unmanaged job stress puts your physical and mental health at risk. Job stress can be caused by any number of things, including impossible deadlines, a lack of resources, relationships with your co-workers or supervisor, long hours, job insecurity, high pressure situations and a lack of control. However, no matter what is causing your job stress, there are steps you can take to protect yourself from its damaging effects. A qualified professional therapist can help you identify the stressors, improve your job satisfaction, and foster your well-being in and out of the workplace. Reach out to us today.