We'll be sharing five tips for helping someone with a mental illness based on an article from issue two of our magazine
One of the biggest factors in whether those who are mentally ill will open up to a person about their feelings is
How that person reacts. It can be frustrating when someone in our life is ill.
And we don't like seeing our loved ones in pain and often want to help.
These five tips should help assure that your loved one and open up more to you.
Tip number one:
Don't allow your negative emotions to be visible
Like I said, it can be frustrating trying to help someone who's ill. You might feel anger, pity,
sadness or even hopelessness when trying to help. It's best not to show these emotions
Don't sigh when your loved one responds in a way you don't like, and don't talk to them as if they are stupid.
Keep in mind, if they could act healthy they would and if you show a
negative reaction to your loved ones, they are much more likely to hide their feelings.
On to tip two: do show them that you still care
This one may seem obvious but often mental illness makes a person feel broken or somehow let down.
Therefore your loved ones should be reminded that you care greatly about them without this reinsurance,
they may feel as if no one cares.
Tip three: and this one is an important one
Don't tell or remind them that it could be worse. This is extremely unhelpful
The idea that knowing that some people are worse off will feel better is simply not true.
In fact, it might make your loved one feel even worse
Firstly, all that matters to your loved one right now
is that they feel bad so bringing up others doesn't really factor into how they feel.
Secondly this reminder may cause guilt within your loved one.
They may feel guilty for talking about the illness or even worse feel guilty for being ill at all.
This means that your loved one is less likely to open up about their illness to you or to anyone else in the future.
Tip 4:
Don't try to relate how they feel to your own experiences, that is unless you have the same illness of course.
It can be tempting to try and relate how they feel two things you've been through but
telling someone who has bipolar that you understand because you have mood swings
Or your friend with anxiety that you understand because you get anxious before exams isn't helpful.
Mental illness is a more extreme than other behavior in feelings and it can often feel
Invalidating to the person to hear these things.
Also,
doing this tends to focus the conversation back on you when it is the other person who needs support, so it's best to listen
rather than try to offer up your own stories.
And finally, tip 5: do try and research their illness
The Internet is a wonderful tool that allows you to research whatever illness your loved one has.
You can research symptoms, helpful tips, and read others experiences.
This all means that you can support your loved one in the best way possible.
Something good to research is particular warning signs and how best to deal with them.
Knowing for example, that someone's first sign of anxiety
Can be them feeling very hot is good for spotting when a possible anxiety attack is about to rear its head.
That's it for our tips. We hope that you now feel better equipped to help support someone with mental illness
Remember it's always good for someone with mental illness to seek medical attention and help. If you liked this video
Please like, share, and subscribe
also, if you'd like more from our magazines they are on sale at
www.psych2go.shop
You can also check out our patreon at patreon.com/psych2gomagazine