Mental health

The subject of mental health is very sensitive – people are happy to admit that they have pain in their joints, heart or stomach, but are reluctant to talk about mental, emotional or cognitive problems. For centuries, doctors did not understand them, and there was a tendency to push these issues beyond the medical treatment boundaries.

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest about mental disorders in health sector, but the doctors are still reluctant to talk about mental health. This is probably due to the fact that for centuries, due to the low level of knowledge, the representatives of official medicine developed useless, even cruel methods for treatment of mental disorders, which frightened the patient since such treatment did not help, but caused new suffering.

The doctor – patient relationship is a cornerstone of medical practice and also of medical ethics. The therapeutic relationship between doctor and patient is a broader concept. This includes the treatment of disorders and diseases at an etiopathological level, while an emotionally supportive relationship helps the patient to maintain emotional balance and remain in a state that does not worsen.

The doctors of the Center implement in their practice one of the most important principles in medicine – to treat the patient, not the disease.

“We believe that the health is twofold well-being – physical and mental, and the mental well-being largely determines the physical well-being.”

People with good mental health are:

physically healthier
with a higher level of education, better job
with higher income
with a successful career
successful in short- and long-term relationships
more satisfied with their lives and the “destiny” they shape

These are people who cope well with situations of emotional distress, are in good contact with reality, including with their wishes and needs. As a result, they become valuable members of society, not only enjoying their own lives but also benefiting others.

The doctor of the Center prof. Gunta Ancane emphasizes that in terms of a calendar time, the brain has a similar operating principle as computers. There is no calendar time for the brain – everything that has happened in the past, what is happening now and what a person is feeling right now, thinking about the future, is happening in the brain at the current time – here and now. This is one of the reasons why the doctors of the Centre are able to help well – no matter how old the traumatic experience is, it is accessible for the doctor and it can be treated with a psychotherapeutic treatment.

The doctor of the Center dr. Artūrs Ancāns notes that there are different definitions of mental health, but the aim of the definitions is to overcome perspectives based on ideal norms, to support an inclusive approach, as free as possible from restrictive and cultural statements, and as close as possible to the emotional experience of human life – sometimes happy, but sometimes sad, even disgusting, or scary, sometimes satisfying and comfortable, but sometimes challenging and uncomfortable.

The doctor of the Center Sandra Vinniņa emphasizes the importance of childhood emotional experiences throughout her life. The emotions are a biochemical process. At the time of emotional experiences, our body releases biological substrates that have an effect on the body as a whole, and on emotional well-being as well.