Mental illness can negatively affect a person’s cognitive, emotional, and physical well-being. If someone you know has a mental illness it can be difficult to watch them struggle and not know what to do. Often the best way to help those you love who are struggling is to support them, mentally and emotionally. By learning how to support those with mental illnesses we can help those with mental illnesses work through their struggles and improve their lives.
Educate Yourself
One of the first steps in supporting those with mental illness is to educate yourself. Learning about mental illnesses can help you know what signs to look for, common symptoms, and ways to help. Learning about the specific mental illness can allow for some understanding of why the person affected may act or think the way they do. There are a plethora of resources to learn about mental health, but if you don’t know where to start some helpful resources would be:
- The National Institute of Mental Health
- Mental Health America
- National Alliance on Mental Health
- Here on Mental H2O
It is important to understand that even if you research mental health, you aren’t an expert on it and it’s different for everyone. Use research as a way to try to understand those with mental illness, don’t use your knowledge to dictate how they must be feeling or why they act.
Listen
The best way to understand and support those with mental health issues is to simply listen. Keep an open mind and listen to the person’s thoughts, concerns, and feelings. The one who knows you best is you, so don’t try to act like you know others better than they know themselves. By listening to those you’re trying to support, you better know how they want support and how to support them. Listening can also be a form of support, as sometimes those with mental illness just want to be heard, and by listening you can help them feel heard.
Don’t Act Like You Know Someone Better than they Know Themselves
Although this has already been lightly touched on in earlier sections, it is important to stress this issue further. A common issue those face with mental illness is others boiling them down to their mental illnesses and acting as though they know and understand them. No one can understand what’s going on inside a person’s head except for themselves, so don’t try to act like you do. When a person with mental illness expresses an emotion, it often that people will dismiss their feelings as just part of their disorder. Saying things like “Oh you’re sad? That’s just your depression” or “You’re feeling angry because of your bipolar” invalidates those with mental disorders. People with mental illnesses are people who can feel emotions unrelated to their disorder. A disorder doesn’t define a person, a person defines a person.
Creating a Safe Space
A safe space is where there is a place for a person to freely express themself without judgment. Safe spaces are important for all people, but especially for those with mental disorders. Being allowed a space to clearly state how you feel and what you think allows for not only for you to better understand those who you are trying to support, but also the person you’re supporting to understand themselves. When allowed to speak without judgment it allows for reflection and realization that couldn’t have been made without talking it through.
Overall
Some ways to support those with mental illnesses are to educate yourself, listen, not act as though you know what others think or feel, and create a safe space for those you are supporting. There are other ways to support those with mental illnesses but using these methods and communicating with those who you support will allow you to find out those different ways. Not all people with mental disorders are the same and some forms of support won’t work as well for others, which is okay. Finding what works best for the one you are supporting and you is part of the challenge of helping those you know with mental illness.
Written By: Jaelyn Diaz, Mental H2O Youth Resource Writer
