How to help a friend with mental illness

It’s always hard to see that a loved one that you have always been close with is undergoing some sort of mental difficulty. When medical practitioners and psychiatrists use different tools and techniques to diagnose and understand your pal’s illness, the cure also involves a lot of love and care from family members and friends. There is no way you can blame yourself for not noticing the mental disorder in the earlier stages, in most of the cases, it is hard to know the exact reason why your friend is going through this. And sometimes, doctors themselves can’t solve the puzzle of why things are happening the way it is.

Apart from medications and monitored treatments, here are a few things you could do to help them lead a normal life.

Know your friend’s illness

Reach out to Google for help! Browse the symptoms and know what exactly the mental disturbance means. This will give you tips on how to behave with your loved one keeping aside anger and judgemental thoughts. Maybe it is the nature of the illness that’s making him act the way he is.

Have a relaxed chat

Take your peer to a place that has a peaceful ambiance. Make sure he has eye contact with you during the chat as most people cannot hide things when they look into the eyes of their close one.

Share your own experience

 Not just with mentally disturbed people, but sharing your own life difficulties and how you overcame them will encourage the other person and give him more confidence to face things. This will also make them have a conversation beyond barriers. After all, it takes the right call to pour out their heart to someone.

Encourage to seek medical help

It is not something easy for a person to accept that he/ she is affected mentally. Enlighten them that seeking medical help and treatment will heal depressing thoughts. Help them realize that they are not sick and just that they need someone with medical knowledge to assist them in the curing process.

Discuss their negatives

People with bipolar disorder often tend to take the wrong direction such as substance abuse and suicidal thoughts. Have an open discussion of how these could be life-threatening and that there are a lot of people who love them and that ending life is not an option.

Negligence is the main reason why psychiatric deaths are on the rise. A lot of suicide cases involving depression go unnoticed until a tragic incident. Of course, it is difficult in today’s world to spend quality time with family and friends as people are running like crazy to cope up with the fast-paced era. But a little love and care can easily help get rid of such regretful situations.