A couple ideas to help your loved ones who are living with mental health:
Sydney Lovell 🏳️🌈
Trauma-informed, antioppresive disability advocate. Pro-neurodiversity
1. Educate yourself on what it is they have. A cursory glance on what living with depression/anxiety/schizophrenia/eating disorders/etc, etc, etc will go a long way towards helping the person feel heard and cared about and give you some perspective on what they are going through.
2. Empathy blockers - move away from using those. Avoid platitudes as well. If you don't know what to say to help, say so but let them know that you care about them a lot and ask them what they need in that moment. Perhaps they just need some hugs and an act of warmth like taking them for a tea or ice cream.
3. Appreciate that if they are upset around you, you only have to deal with it in a snapshot - they are living with it all the time and if it's so strong that they are showing it, it means that they have been doing what they can on their own to manage it and right now they need outside support
4. Yes, sometimes you will need to reassure them over and over again. It's part of the game, baby. The price of admission. Again, they are doing everything they can to not ask for help so if they are, be kind and patient.
5. Acknowledge the effort and steps they - are - and have been taking to deal with things.
6. Yes they probably have tried "_______" and it's more complicated than that. It's very important to understand that you can do everything right and it still won't just magically fix things. Sometimes things will be ok, if not really good for a while and then like an avalanche or a popped bubble, it isn't.
7. There is no one size fits all. Not even this list can cover everything. Everyone who experiences mental health still experiences it in their own way even if there are commonalities.
8. It can be scary to hear when someone says they want to hurt themselves or die or to watch them completely meltdown and that's ok to feel that way. You can always reach out to others for support as well and you're not solely responsible, but your presence can make a hugely positive impact in those times.
9. We're all in this together
Career Development Practitioner | Certified Career & Life Coach | Case Management | Educator
4yThe breakdown of empathy blocker makes visible the default ways of relating to someone that is in the midst of a challenge.
Director at Career Development Practitioners Certification Board of Ontario
4yThank you Sydney for such terrific suggestions. As one who has experienced my own mental health challenges I agree that these are thoughtful and caring ways to let people know you are with them without trying to fix them. A little love, caring, empathy and just being there goes a long way. It sure helped me.