What is Psychoeducation?
Psychoeducation helps persons with a mental illness, or anyone with an interest in mental illness, access the facts about a wide range of mental health problems. It is also a way to learn strategies to deal with mental illness and its effects.
Research shows that the more you know about your illness and how it affects your life and that of others, the more control you have over your illness. This means that, with appropriate knowledge and techniques, episodes of mental illness occur less often and are usually less severe in intensity and duration.
It's important to remember that Psychoeducation is not a treatment. It is designed to be part of your overall treatment plan as a tool to help you better understand your symptoms, risk factors and treatment methods. Knowledge of your illness is important for you and your support network to be able to design your own relapse prevention plans and strategies.
Psychoeducation has been around for a long time as a tool for families to be able to make sense of what is happening to someone who is experiencing a mental illness and to help them to care for them.
Remember, treatment works and recovery is possible.
Source: Mental Health Matters
