5 ways you can help someone to deal with mental illness

How to Get Started Learning about Mental Illness

If you wish to be there for your spouse, children or relatives who have been grappling with mental illness, the first thing that I would like to say is this good intention shows that you’re already a great friend or spouse to your loved one. You may have really good intentions to save your loved one but, it can be difficult to understand exactly how to help your loved one with mental illness and how to communicate with a depressed person. 

If you don’t have any idea about your loved one’s disorder, that’s all right here below I have given 5 tips to help a friend with worry, stress and other prevention of mental illness. But before discussing the tips let us discuss things to Avoid Saying and doing to some you really care.

Things to Avoid Saying to someone with mental illness:

  • “Just pray for your problem.”
  • “You need to change your behavior.”
  • “Stop dwelling on the negative and start moving forward”
  • “I know how you feel”
  • “Everyone feels that way sometimes.”
  • “Go do something and you will feel better.”
  • “It could be worse”

Things to Avoid Doing around someone with mental illness

  • Stop blaming or raising your voice at them.
  • Stop repeating their mistakes. Silence and pauses are ok.
  • Showing unfriendliness behavior towards them.
  • Assuming something about them or their condition.
  • Being disrespectful or making fun of their situation.
  • Criticizing them or saying anything proud of yourself. 

Now let us discuss in detail about the 5 tips to help your loved with mental illness

1. Learn About Their Illness

If your loved one is struggling with symptoms of mental illness, then obviously It can be very painful and heart-wrenching to see them. 

And oftentimes you will be in a confusion that how to help and support them to overcome their illness. So that this is the time to educate yourself regarding mental illness, which types of illness they are suffering from and find a better way to support your loved one.

  • Get a reality-based perception of their symptoms.
  • Breakthrough damaging myths.
  • Discover what their treatment options are.
  • Better know their requirements, challenges, and diagnosis.
  • Identify signs they may not recognize.

2. Remain Calm

Being calm and having patience is one of the most crucial ways of supporting your loved one. Recognizing that a loved one might need help can be frightening or alarming, If the person behaves with you harshly you might be insensitive or aggressive,  but this is the time to be calm, mindful and patient. Take time to consider the person’s signs and your bond with them before acting. When you take the dairy and start writing what you want to say and how you feel may be more beneficial to support you identify and know your thoughts and feelings, and it also encourages you to slow down while connecting to your good purposes.

3. Encourage them to Participate in Healthy Lifestyle Changes

If you care about your loved one’s mental illness then make them participate in a Healthy Lifestyle which is especially needed for somebody with a mental disorder. So that you should first cultivate healthy habits then you can help your loved one by inviting them to join you in healthy lifestyle choices. 

You can do these things to help your loved one improve their health with lifestyle changes. 

  • Study regarding good nutrition and cook more healthful meals at the house.
  • practice regular exercise regularly, including walking
  • Practice and do mindfulness techniques like breathing exercises and meditation for rest.
  • Avoid alcohol and drugs, as many people with mental illness are susceptive to abuse substances.
  • Take sufficient sleep every night.
  • Journal activities and events, concentrating on gratitude.

4. Take them for Treatment 

It’s important to use healthy lifestyle options and exercises as well as stress-reducing to control the mental illness. Although these measures are not always adequate. The individual you love may require more professional counseling or participate in a support group, or a prayer group and treatment in rehab centers in Columbus Ohio to start the journey toward recovery.

These are the types of mental illness treatment 

  • Psychotherapy
  • Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT)
  • Interpersonal psychotherapy (IPT) 
  • Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT)
  • Eye Movement Desensitization And Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR)
  • Exposure Therapy
  • Interpersonal Therapy
  • Mentalization-Based Therapy

5. Facilitate Positive Social Engagement

Once your spouse, child or someone you love has completed treatment, they will require you to continue to assist by boosting confident lifestyle changes, encouraging them to relieve tension, and just standing by their side as someone who cares for them. Join social activities to these other areas of care to help your loved one recover and to protect them from developing a mental illness like depression, stress, and worry.

Find a way to recovery

When you practice these 5 ways you can help a loved one On Their Healing Journey and protecting parts against the negative effects of mental illness. When your loved one gets to connect with practices  it helps them to develop good mental health and when stressful situations arise he/she knows how to cope better in the future.

13 thoughts on “5 ways you can help someone to deal with mental illness

  1. My wife an I share the same diagnoses, and have similar depressive episodes (although almost never at the same time). I’m always struck by how I never no what to say to her even though I’ve recently been through the exact same thing. Sometimes there’s nothing to do except “be there” for the person.

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    1. It can be a very sensitive subject. It’s hard to know how someone will react. Thank goodness you’re being an example of “the solution”. Sometimes that’s the best we can do. Does anyone in her family suffer from a mental illness? That could be a door opener.

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      1. I really appreciate the things brought up in this post. However, I do not agree with labeling it as an ‘Illness.’ Through peer support courses I have realized that by labeling it as an illness it makes us believe we are sick and will never get better or that we need other people to tell us what we need. I feel that the majority of mental health issues are created and prolonged by a system that keeps us reliant on mental health professionals who see us as patients rather than people. There are many tools and methods out there to support people in finding their own pathways to recovery without the dire need for medical intervention. When people are labeled as being ‘ill’ it prevents them from finding their own path.

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  2. This is a brilliant post. A strong support system can be crucial to recovery. I particularly liked that you mentioned educating yourself on the person’s diagnosis. I think that the more we understand what a person is experiencing, the more effective we can be in supporting them.

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  3. Victoria, this is great. I would like to add one tip that helped me with my schizophrenia: hobbies. If it had not been for my passions for downhill skiing, duck hunting, fishing, handball, and writing, I would not have made it. Today, I enjoy a rich life of family, friends, and getting my second published book sold. Thanks to A.A. and a study at the VA, I was shot out of a cannon into a fourth dimension. I am permanently happy.

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