Behavioral Therapy with a Chemical Imbalance

Chemical imbalance is generally caused in the human brain when the levels of certain natural chemicals such as serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine either drop or increase above the normal levels. These chemicals--also called neurotransmitters--are responsible for emotional balance and stability. Such chemical imbalance requires medical treatment combined with behavioral therapy, with behavioral therapy playing a major role toward restoration of normalcy.

What is Behavioral Therapy?

• Behavioral therapy is the non-medical method of treating chemical imbalance-induced behavior disturbances. Through a series of training exercises involving the brain and thinking processes, behavioral therapy aims to restore the disruption in the chemical balance of the brain and thereby bring a mentally and emotionally disturbed patient back to a normal level of functioning. Behavioral therapy allows patients to focus their mind away from thought patterns that might cause them to lose their mental stability.

How Does Behavioral Therapy Work with a Chemical Imbalance?

• Behavioral therapy banks on the theory that chemical imbalance in the human brain is caused by our own thoughts and behavior patterns. If the original thoughts or situation that caused the chemical imbalance can be reversed or the mind diverted elsewhere, the levels of related chemicals can quickly return to normalcy and thereby allow the patient to regain her mental balance. An applied science in its own right, behavioral therapy is today an important part of treatment.

What are the Steps in Behavioral Therapy?

• The therapy starts with identification of the original thoughts or situation that led to the patient suffering from the mental imbalance in the first place. A behavioral therapist is trained to scientifically evaluate the condition of a patient and, through that, identify what caused the mental disturbance. Once this has been identified, the patient is then trained on how to control his thoughts and reactions so that potentially disturbing situations can be controlled.

Can Behavioral Therapy be Applied to All Chemical Imbalance Situations?

• Certain imbalance situations arise on account of a reaction to a drug or treatment. Such imbalances cannot be treated with behavioral therapy and require alternate medical treatment or replacing the drugs that caused the imbalance. Certain chemical imbalances in the brain can also happen on account of accidents or injuries to the brain. While behavioral therapy can be applied in some such cases, it is not always guaranteed to succeed.

How Should Behavioral Therapy be Used?

• Behavioral therapy application calls for a trained therapist to work with the patient, and it requires a lot of patience. Ingrained behaviors and reactions to situations can be hard to change, especially if they have been left alone for too long. For such underlying causes of chemical imbalance, behavioral therapy can be a long drawn out and exhaustive process. It can be best used when there is a clear underlying cause for the chemical imbalance.