What can be your role in helping someone with mental health issues

We, as a community are working hard towards the stigma surrounding mental health. Everyday, more and more people with mental health issues are being encouraged to ask for help, to not give up on life, to share what is going on with them, what are the issues they are struggling with. But this is not enough, what about people who can help and support them? Are they being taught how to respond when someone calls out for help? We know that mental health issues are real, depression is real, anxiety disorders are real, but that’s all. What about how to actually respond when someone asks for help, when someone constantly tries to throw off hints that he/she is going through something? What then? Let me tell you what happens when someone opens up.

1. He/She is trying to get attention.

2. Oh, you have anxiety? Get over it.

3. It’s just a phase.

4. Just don’t think about it.

5. I don’t understand, you have nothing to be sad about.

6. You don’t need professional help, it’s not even that serious.

These are the kinds of response most of the people have. They just don’t know how to help, what to do. People still don’t recognize the importance of professional help and it’s benefits. Sure, talking about it helps the person who is suffering from mental health issues, but what happens when he/she isn’t making any progress, just talking it out isn’t the solution. In order to solve any problem, we must know the course it runs through, where the problem arises, is it the past, some trauma, drug abuse, or some biological cause. Then comes eliminating or replacing the unhealthy behavior or distressing thought patterns with a healthy coping mechanism. This is what mental health professionals are for, finding out the right therapies, or the suitable solutions according to the individual.

So, neglecting any possibilities for the betterment of the individual, is one and the same thing as neglecting the importance of mental health. Instead, here’s what you can do when someone opens to you about their mental health issues.

1. Listen without judging

When we say listen, that involves empathy, non judgmental attitude and refraining yourself from giving any advises. Listen first, what are they going through, let them know their feelings, thoughts are not invalid. That there must be some reason they are feeling this way. Never ever say there’s nothing for them to feel sad about, or anxious about. Let them know you stand with them, work as a team, use ‘we’ instead of ‘you’. For example ‘we’ can try this.

2. Encourage them to get professional help

It just doesn’t make sense when we run to a physician in case of a common cold but when it comes to mental health issues, we can go on for years without consulting any one. Mental health issues are just as distressing as physical illness. And just as physical issues can get worse when not treated, mental health issues can get worse when not attended to. So, don’t be the one making it even more difficult for the person, instead encourage them to see a mental health professional.

3. Talk about self care

Most of the times, people with mental health issues can ignore the self care, but self care usually have a significant impact. Encourage them towards self care, be it spa, skin care, hair care, whatever you can think of, it can be relaxing and sends ‘rewarding’ messages to the brain, which is essential.

4. Know your limits

Let them share as much as they want to or as little as they want to, we cannot force any one to follow a certain course of action. What we can do is, help them explore what is best for the person. Let the person know that you are going to be there for them for the better and for the worse, and that is all.

Helping and providing support in case of mental health issues can sure be tricky, but just because we aren’t taught about how and what to help with. I’m sure that with time, with enough awareness, we can stand together and change for the better. There isn’t a need to carry on previous stigmas, we can learn to help better. Today, 1 in every 5 people goes through some level of mental health issues, and it’s high time we learn how to manage these issues without having to cause any further distress.