We all want our loved ones to be healthy and content, but most of us will know someone who battles a mental health condition. It’s never easy to witness someone you care about struggle, and the difficulties can occasionally be made worse by the practical challenges that mental health issues can bring. Several mental health issues may hamper your capacity to work or get along with others. Helping a buddy struggling with a mental health challenge, especially after they have confided in you can be difficult, but it is worthwhile, and things improve. Here are a few ways you can support.
- Understand mental health: Surprisingly few people are knowledgeable about mental health. For instance, most people are unaware of the symptoms of addiction, depression, or anxiety disorders. Many people hold wild beliefs regarding mental illness. For instance, many people believe that schizophrenia patients are more violent than the overall population or that depression is simply being sad. Many issues may be concealed from view. For instance, drinking is so widespread in most western nations that it can be challenging to identify an alcohol use disorder unless you know what to look for.
- Do not stigmatize mental health: The same rules apply to physical and mental health issues. Your loved one can’t will the problem away because they didn’t choose to deal with mental health concerns. Don’t let a loved one feel guilty about mental health challenges. Instead, urge them to be open and honest as you listen without passing judgment. There remain a lot of people with misconceptions around mental illness. It is important to get educated on the topic.
- Listen, take notes: Disorders or symptoms do not exist in people. Your loved one may not exhibit all the symptoms your study suggests they will because they are individual people. For information, don’t solely rely on books or online publications. Ask how you may help after hearing about the events your loved one has had.
- Assist the person you love in seeking help: Most of the time, mental health challenges do not go away on their own, and your loved one deserves great care. First, find a therapist that specializes in the problem that your loved one is facing. Offer to make the initial call or even to accompany the person you love to the first therapy session if they are hesitant to ask for help.
- Provide genuine support: Even though it’s wonderful to say you care and wish to help, providing particular, practical aid is preferable. For example, if your friend is overloaded at work, it would be a good idea to pick up the kids from school. If your sibling struggles to concentrate on regular tasks, offer to mow the lawn or weed the garden for them. Your loved one can focus more easily on their rehabilitation when you lessen the burden of daily life.
- Consider symptoms serious: Mental health disorders may color a loved one’s perceptions, and no amount of argumentation will alter those perceptions. The fact that mental health symptoms are actual symptoms is more significant. Do not reassure a buddy experiencing suicidal thoughts, anger, or anxiety that life is not all that horrible. Take your loved one’s emotions seriously and pay close attention to them. Never make someone you care about feel bad about how they feel.
- Give control to your loved one: Trying to coerce your loved one into treatment undermines their sense of strength and agency unless they are in immediate danger. Instead, encourage your loved one to seek treatment, but avoid pressuring or manipulating them. The effectiveness of treatment depends on how prepared the patient is.
- Bring unique love to the world: Stereotypes about mental illness might exacerbate the fear of unlovability that many people with mental health challenges experience. Pay close attention to your friend and assure them that you are and will remain available.
- Secure your loved one: Above all else, your priority should be the life and safety of your loved ones. A suicide hotline or a mental health expert should be contacted if you are concerned that a loved one is in immediate danger. People who make violent or suicidal threats aren’t just doing it for publicity. They are individuals who are in urgent need of assistance and who merit it.
Many people we label tough, obstinate, aggressive, lazy, or weird may display signs of mental illness. The better we understand the fundamentals of mental health, the more effectively we can support the individuals we care about.
If you have any questions about how you can further assist your loved one with mental health issues, contact Restore 360 online or call us at (484) 373-2710. We offer a range of mental health services to assist our patients to live a whole and healed life again.