It not easy to tell if a friend, family member or someone you know is struggling with their mental health. These topics are hard to discuss because most of the times we don’t know how to support that person. However, when a person is trying to talk about their mental health, taking care of your body language, tone and choice of language and words can give huge support and make a lot of difference to that person.
You can make a big difference through small gestures like carefully listening, keeping in touch and showing you care. A safe environment to have an open conversation allows individuals to speak openly about their moods and feelings. It makes them feel supported and heard.
How to Support Someone Who Opens Up About Their Mental Health
When someone opens up to you about their mental health, it can be challenging to know what to say or what to do and most importantly how to react and respond.
Here are some tips you can use to make sure they feel supported:
1. Listen with empathy
When someone is opening up to you about their mental health, listen to them with empathy – carefully and thoughtfully without making assumptions or jumping to conclusions. When a person talks openly their mental health, they are already filled with self-doubt and self-judgement. In such a scenario, the least you can do is listen with an open mind and an open heart.
2. Create a connection
Listen without any judgement or shame. Create a sense of reassurance, care and trust. Listen more, ask questions and avoid making any statements or shallow comments.
3. Ask how you can help
It may seem difficult to find the right questions to ask or things to say when someone opens up to you. Instead of making assumptions, try asking direct questions like “how can I support you?” or “what would be most helpful for you right now?” This will give direction to the conversation and make the person feel heard and cared for.
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4. Validate their feelings
It’s easy to crack a joke or to shrug off what someone is telling you. However, consider how much courage that person probably had to gather in order to start this conversation with you. Normalise their experience without any judgements. Mental health needs to be normalised and if the person feels heard and seen, they will never hesitate in coming to you with their problems in future.
5. Treat them normally
One of the biggest reasons that stop people from talking about their mental health is that they believe that they will be ostracized or treated differently. They have chosen and trusted you for sharing a piece of their lives with you, but it’s not who they are and it’s not their identity. They have a few extra struggles that they’re finally being open about but they are the same person you knew before.
Bottom line…
It’s a harsh truth that many people choose to remain silent about their mental health. However, the most effective way of fighting the stigma around it is by normalising the conversations about mental health disorders.
As a friend or a family member, it’s your responsibility to have an open discussion about the mental health of your loved ones without any stigma or judgement; especially when they reach out to you.
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Read more about Maternal Mental Health on my Instagram under the hashtag #31shadesofprettyme
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