A polyclinic can often be the description used for what you might otherwise call a ‘super-surgery’, offering a range of outpatient treatments and hospital services in a private environment.

Suppose you search polyclinic Dubai, for instance. In that case, you will be connected with a medical center that provides a range of treatments that help to reduce the potential burden on hospitals and provide the sort of focused attentive care and facilities that are often only available in a private treatment setting.

One of these polyclinic services relates to mental health treatments. 

Mental health is a very emotive subject and there has often been an unfair stigma attached to reaching out for the sort of help needed in many individual cases. Polyclinics are increasingly taking on the role of handling a number of patients with various mental health issues. The fact that these treatments are available in such a professional and discreet environment explains the growth in polyclinics offering mental health treatments.

Here is a look at the various aspects of mental health treatments and how polyclinics have become so popular, including why patients are choosing this route.

More accessible

One of the more straightforward reasons polyclinics have become so popular with regard to mental health services is that it is often a more readily accessible solution when you are in need of mental health care.

Mental health problems are presented in many different forms and with varying degrees of severity. What is commonplace is the fact that if you are seeking out help for something such as anxiety disorder, for example, it is not a scenario or problem that can wait.

You want to get the treatment you feel you need to get your mental health back on track as urgently as possible. The basic facts are that mental health services through polyclinics are usually more readily available and can be accessed without delay. If you need help you can’t afford to wait for a hospital appointment, which could take weeks or months to come through.

Privacy guaranteed

Unfortunately, despite a growing awareness of the importance of being able to talk more openly about mental health problems, there is still a high desire amongst many patients to retain a certain level of privacy and anonymity.

If you have an appointment with the mental health services department of your local hospital it is clearly obvious to anyone who needs to know where you are going, and why you are visiting.

Polyclinics have a distinct advantage in this respect. In view of the fact that polyclinics provide a wide variety of health-related services, you will always be able to enjoy a greater amount of privacy and anonymity because you could be visiting for any number of reasons.

A mental health team at your disposal

Privacy and anonymity are not the only valid reasons for deciding to visit a polyclinic rather than a hospital.

Polyclinics offering mental health services are able to offer you access to a team of specialists and professionally trained team members who each play their own active role in helping you to recover and rehabilitate.

Whether you need access to a doctor with mental health experience or need psychological support and evaluation, you will usually find that your chosen polyclinic has the sort of mental health team required to give you all of the treatment options and support you need.

Collaborative approach

All healthcare professionals take their commitment to a duty of patient care very seriously. That means you can be sure that a collaborative approach will be taken to ensure that everyone who comes to a polyclinic with mental health problems will get the level of help they need.

If you came to a polyclinic with mental health problems that transcended into something more severe and you were not responding to the treatment and medication provided, there is always the option to be referred to a hospital for further treatment.

The reality is that a very high percentage of patients who seek mental health help at a polyclinic tend to remain within that environment and get the help needed to make a recovery by finding a way forward.

This collaborative approach between polyclinics and hospitals helps to ensure that every patient gets the level of help required. Anyone with more severe mental health problems will likely remain under hospital supervision. In the meantime, you can get help managing your physical and mental health conditions in a more focused and private setting.

A fundamental point that needs remembering about the role of polyclinics is that because they are able to offer mental health services that encompass all aspects of mental health treatment, both physical and mental, it is actually helping to free up resources elsewhere.

Hopefully, every patient gets the attention they need when polyclinics are able to provide such a wide variety of mental health services and facilities, whilst also taking a collaborative approach when needed.

Continually expanding the range of services

Mental health issues can be very wide-ranging and complex. The successful role that polyclinics are playing in overall health services is expanding continually and that means issues such as dementia care are now being included in the range of services available.

It is becoming abundantly clear that polyclinics are going to play an ever-expanding role in helping patients with mental health issues that need prompt attention. This is because it ticks a lot of boxes in terms of being able to get the assessment and treatment you need, on your terms and within your preferred timescale.

Add in the advantage of being able to seek out help from a polyclinic with a much higher degree of anonymity and you can see why this has become an option that is chosen by a growing number of patients who need help.

If you require help with a  mental health issue and want to avoid any potential stigma that you might feel is attached to visiting a specific mental health department, the option of visiting a polyclinic is a very attractive and viable one.

Adam Mulligan did his degree in psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He is interested in mental health, wellness, and lifestyle.