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MEDICAL ANIMATION TRANSCRIPT: You or someone you know may have been diagnosed with a mental health problem. This video will show you some ways that could make the problem a lot better. While there are currently no known cures for most mental illness, the good news is that recovery is possible. Most people diagnosed with a mental illness can experience relief from their symptoms by actively participating in an individual treatment plan. Common treatment options include psychotherapy, also known as talk therapy or counseling, and medication. Medications for mental illnesses are thought to work on your brain cells, called neurons. In doing so, they increase brain activity in certain areas or decrease activity in others. This can help reduce your symptoms. For example, some medications work to make more naturally occurring chemical messengers available. These chemicals pass signals between your brain cells. It is important for brain cells to have enough of these chemicals in the space between them to pass the signals. If you have depression, you may not have enough of certain chemical messengers in this space. In general, the use of antidepressant medications results in the buildup of certain chemical messengers in this space. This buildup improves signal transfer, and your mood may improve as a result. Other medications work differently or in ways not yet known. In addition to depression, other common mental illnesses that can be treated with medications include schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, also known as manic depressive disorder, and many others. If you have schizophrenia, your health care professional or doctor may prescribe antipsychotic medications. A mood stabilizer is usually the first choice as medication taken on a regular basis if you have bipolar disorder. Other medications prescribed for bipolar disorder include antipsychotics, antidepressants, or drugs known as atypical antipsychotics. Mental illnesses are common. You may have a mental illness not discussed in this video, or you may have been prescribed other types of medication. Talk to your health care professional or doctor if you have questions about your medication or have any side effects. It is important to take your medications as directed by your health care professional or doctor. Do not stop taking them unless your health care professional or doctor tells you to. If you stop taking your medications, your symptoms may reappear. … more