Inpatient Mental Health Treatment
We understand mental illness and the difficulties it creates for those who suffer from it. At our San Diego Mental Health Treatment Center we are sensitive to your challenges. Solara will find every possible solution to enable you to live the life that you are meant to live.
Mental Health and Wellness

Mood Disorder Treatment

The term “mood disorders” refers broadly to all mood-related illnesses. There are many kinds of mood disorders, including major depression and complicated bereavement.  Though each of these illnesses is different in its symptoms, all are alike in the stress and suffering that they cause. Every veteran needs to have their own specific mood disorder treatment customized for their needs.

At Solara Mental Health, we know how disruptive mood disorders can be in our veterans’ everyday lives.  These disorders keep them from attaining professional or social goals, coping with day-to-day life or even alter their entire sense of self-perception or their worldview.  Our mood disorder treatments in San Diego depend on the specific diagnosis of symptoms.

Mood Disorders

A mood disorder can affect children, teens, and adults.  While symptoms are similar in mood disorders, it is harder to distinguish and diagnose a teen or a child because they are not always able to express how they feel.  Mood disorders can range from making an individual feeling very depressed to extremely irritable or manic.  The most common types of mood disorders include depression, major depression, bipolar disorders, and complicated bereavement which are listed below.

Depression

Depression is a highly prevalent and often debilitating mood disorder.  It causes an individual to constantly feel sad and cause them to lose interest in day-to-day activities that were otherwise enjoyable.  Not everyone experiences the same symptoms but depression can cause a multitude of different symptoms.  Some fo the more common ones include:

  • Anxious/empty mood
  • Feeling of hopelessness
  • Irritability
  • Feeling of guilt
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies activities
  • Decreased energy or fatigue
  • Moving or talking slowly
  • Loss of appetite
  • Difficulty sleeping, eating, concentrating
  • Suicidal thoughts or attempts
  • Aches or pains, headaches, cramps without clear physical cause

Major Depression

Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the U.S.  Major depressive disorder can cause an individual difficulty in carrying out common life tasks or activities.  In 2011, a study an estimated 11 million U.S. adults aged 18 or older reported having one major depressive episode with a severe impairment which represented 4.5% of all U.S. adults.  Feeling sad at times is a part of life but an individual should not feel sad or low for a ling period of time.

A few symptoms to look out for include:

  • Persistent feelings of sadness, emptiness and hopefulness
  • Reduction or complete loss of interest in relationships, interests, activities that otherwise felt enjoyable
  • Significant increase or decrease in sleep
  • Fatigue, listlessness, and general loss of energy
  • Irritability or anger
  • Memory problems and general slowness in cognitive function
  • Unwarranted feelings of guilt and worthlessness
  • Changes in appetite, including both overeating or under eating
  • Thoughts of death or suicide

Bipolar Disorder

Formally known as Manic Depression, Bipolar Disorder is a psychological condition in which an individual experiences shifts in mood, energy, activity levels, concentration, and the ability to carry out day-to-day activities.  The most common indicator of Bipolar Disorder includes severe mood swings that include manic episodes and depressive episodes.  Symptoms of bipolar disorder range in variety from person to person and are classified in four types:

  • Bipolar I Disorder: Manic episodes may be accompanied by psychosis. Manic episodes typically last a week, whereas depressive episodes last roughly two weeks.
  • Bipolar II Disorder: More commonly seen in women, this type experiences major depressive episodes with ‘hypomanic’ episodes. Hypomanic episodes usually last about four days and are milder than full-blown manic episodes. Depressive episodes typically last a couple of weeks.
  • Cyclothymic Disorder: People with cyclothymia may experience a month or two of stable moods. Symptoms of hypomania and bipolar depression are usually less severe than the other two types but may occur more often.
  • Not elsewhere classified: Any other types that do not meet the above circumstances are listed here (such as bipolar mood changes induced by drugs or another disease).

Complicated Bereavement

Grief, otherwise known as Complicated Bereavement, is a mood disorder characterized by yearning and longing due to the loss of a loved one.  Losing a loved one can be a painful, heartbreaking, and even traumatic experience.  Although many people go through it, some can face a harder time coping with this loss.  Complicated bereavement disrupts this process, keeping those struggling with it from overcoming the pain of their loss thus not being able to function normally in everyday life.

Symptoms of complicated bereavement include:

  • Intense sorrow and emotional pain in response to the death
  • Anxiety
  • Marked difficulty accepting death
  • Disbelief or emotional numbness over the loss
  • Bitterness or anger related to loss
  • A desire to die in order to be with the deceased.
  • Difficulty trusting other individuals since the death.
  • Inability to trust or connect with others
  • Feeling that life is meaningless or empty without the deceased or the belief that one cannot function without the deceased.
  • Confusion about one’s role in life or a diminished sense of one’s identity
  • Physical symptoms, such as extreme fatigue, weight changes, nausea, and muscle pain

Mood Disorder Treatment Details

At Solara Mental Health, we tailor our mood disorder treatment plans to the individual, helping each veteran work through their own specific symptoms and create a plan to manage those symptoms in their day-to-day lives. These personalized treatment programs are aided by the residential nature of our program, which allows veterans to have individual, compassionate support whenever needed. Similarly, the staff at our psychiatric facility specializes in mood disorder treatment and are experts in helping veterans find stability, well-being and peace.

Medication

Often mood disorder medication is a vital, even life-saving, part of recovery. At our mental health treatment facility, our inpatient program allows our onsite psychiatrists to administer and closely monitor medication on a day-to-day basis.  This helps us to find the medication regimen that is best suited to the veteran’s specific symptoms and needs.

Individual Therapy

Individual psychotherapy has been shown to be a crucial part of effective mood disorder treatment, even for those whose symptoms are primarily managed through medication. At Solara, we utilize a combination of intensive individual psychotherapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), which help veterans better understand their symptoms and any underlying causes of their mood disorder.  This, along with developing new, healthy coping mechanisms that are the foundation for long-lasting recovery.

Group Therapy

Don’t feel alone while you grieve over the loss of a loved one.  The best thing to do is gather support from friends, family, therapists or people who have gone through something similar.  Being surrounded by a support system and people who have gone through a loss can help you get through yours.

At Solara Mental Health, we offer a range of group therapies where veterans can explore their specific diagnosis with a group of understanding peers. Group therapy is a safe space, one where veterans can feel supported, respected, and no longer isolated.  Our therapy groups are designed to target a specific problem and in this case, can help with complicated bereavement.

Holistic Care

Physical and mental health have a very close relationship. Although physical care— such as good nutrition and regular exercise—can seem insignificant compared to the emotional and mental symptoms of a mood disorder, physical care can drastically improve quality of life. Solara offers a variety of holistic therapies designed to help veterans heal physically, including physical exercise classes, yoga, and meditation. Our private chefs also prepare wholesome, delicious meals that will contribute to a veteran’s overall well-being.

While our veterans make considerable and rapid improvements, mood disorder is often a long-term condition. Through years of experience, our mental health treatment center has learned how to provides the entire spectrum of care for our veterans.  From inpatient to outpatient, from transitional living to a long-term aftercare plan, our program has been designed to free our veterans from the clutches of mood disorder.

Contact us now to start the healing process.

Proudly Serving Veterans
with TriWest Insurance

TriWest Healthcare

What Our Clients Say

Lauren

The Solara program is truly amazing. I’ve never had more clarity or more good energy in my entire life. The attention the physicians and the therapists gave me was outstanding. I feel like they truly understood and addressed my issues, which had consumed my life for years. Thank you all.

R.M. – Father

If not for Solara Mental Health, I am almost positive that our daughter would not be as advanced in her treatment, and would not have the almost miraculous confident and positive outlook that she has.

Bill

The program has given me the tools I needed to really gain stability. For the first time in years - maybe for as long as I can remember, actually, I’m learning how to cope and manage my stressors and triggers. I now believe that I can find some relief and happiness.

M.P. – Father

Your program provided our daughter with the most masterful therapist we have ever encountered (and we have used many).  She has had an unbelievable ability to see the long-term trajectory of our daughter’s treatment and to approach her treatment in stages that fit where my daughter’s development was.  We can’t say enough positive about her.

Husband

Solara was truly a life-changing experience for me and for our children, because of what you did for my wife! The treatment team was phenomenally supportive and perfect for helping her with her anxiety and depression. We are all now moving forward to put our lives back together and it started with you all in Pacific Beach. Thank you for what you do.

Dad

We are so grateful to you for the treatment and care you provided our daughter. She is doing unbelievably well now thanks to your program. We will gladly tell anyone we encounter that needs treatment about the wonderful work you do at Solara.

Alex

I have never felt better than I do now, since completing your program. The truly caring and supportive staff and the intensive program changed my life. What a neat place to stay for treatment - I love Pacific Beach! I have learned skills and behavior to move forward with my life thanks to you.

Michelle Family

I want to thank you and the entire staff and support system at Solara for taking such good care of my sister. On behalf of my entire family, we want you all to understand that your patience and kindness stretches further than you can see… Thank you, again and again, from the bottom of my heart.

Bradley

The therapists and counselors and really whole team were extremely beneficial to me and my understanding of my issues. The treatment plan they developed was exactly what I needed

Lynn

Even though I’m not religious, I realized when I got sober that for the first time in my life I wanted to explore my spiritual side. I benefited hugely from the individual spiritual sessions that I had with Chris. I’m really grateful for that aspect of the whole treatment experience.

Watson Family

Solara’s program was such a positive experience for our mom (and for us)! She had become almost impossible to deal with. Your entire staff was phenomenally supportive and kind and patient with her. We feel like we’ve got our mom back, now.

Terri

The Solara Treatment Program was a life-changing experience for me. To be able to heal in such a beautiful, peaceful environment, with such a terrific treatment team, was so amazingly positive. I have found my true self, again. I thank you and my family thanks you for helping me become the person I was meant to be.