Today, you are more likely than ever before to have friends receiving mental health treatments. People living with mental health diagnoses often struggle to find support and build good relationships. This can be exacerbated by their friends’ subconscious biases and negative stigma about mental health conditions. Treatments such as those for addiction and EMDR can be negatively portrayed in the media, contributing to society’s prejudices. Having a supportive and understanding friend is, therefore, very important in the lives of all people but especially those living with mental illness.
Here are ten ways friends can support someone undergoing mental health treatment:
Be a Good Listener
You can help a person with a mental illness by providing a non-judgmental space for the person to talk about their experiences and feelings. Many times, people who are suffering from mental illness or other challenges are met with stigma, prejudice, and judgment from their families and friends. This can increase the symptoms and problems associated with the illness, as well as make it less likely that the person will seek treatment. Provide a safe space for your friend to talk about their life and experiences.
Offer Practical Support
Some people seeking mental health treatment find daily tasks difficult. Offer to help with specific tasks such as grocery shopping, cooking, or transportation to therapy appointments. If you know your friend is going through a hard time, you don’t always have to ask before helping. Showing up with a prepared meal or a few extra groceries without being asked is a good way to show that you are there for them and that you care about what they are going through. This works even better if you are a close enough friend to know their food preferences or to predict their needs.
Provide Emotional Support
One way to help all of your friends, no matter what they are going through, is by offering words of encouragement and showing understanding and empathy. All people, both those living with mental illness and those who aren’t, benefit from having supportive and understanding friends in their lives. Providing emotional support to your friend can help them get through hard times in their life and become a healthier person.
Educate Yourself
If you have a friend who is living with a mental illness, consider learning more about the person’s condition and treatment so you can better support them. While it is impossible to understand exactly what another person is feeling or going through, knowing more about their illness can help you be a better friend and be ready to help in the ways that mean the most.
Avoid Giving Unsolicited Advice
Instead of giving advice, ask your friend how you can help them, and then respect their wishes. In many cases, people living with mental illness already receive excellent professional advice, and the well-intentioned suggestions of people who don’t live with the illness come off as arrogant and uninformed. Instead, ask what you can do to help, what kinds of support they need, and when your help might be needed. Remember, people who are receiving mental health treatment deserve to be treated like everyone else you know and not singled out as needing more help or being less able.
Offer to Join Therapy Sessions
Accompanying your friend to therapy can provide emotional support and help them feel less alone. In some cases, your friend will not want anyone with them during their sessions. If this is the case, offer to attend special family sessions or help with transportation to and from their appointments. If your friend is up to it, doing a fun activity you both enjoy after therapy sessions, such as going to the gym, stopping for coffee, or taking a walk in a local park, can be a way for your friend to decompress after the session.
Help Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle
Encourage healthy habits such as exercise, healthy eating, and adequate sleep. In many cases, telling people they should be healthier adds guilt and shame to their life, so make sure that you are supporting them with the same words and tone that you would use for any of your friends. Perhaps the best way to encourage someone to maintain a healthy lifestyle is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle yourself and inviting your friends to join you. Asking them to try a healthy diet along with you or be your gym partner once a week is a non-confrontational and non-judgemental way to encourage both yourself and them to be healthier.
Encourage Adherence to Treatment
When your friend is struggling with their treatment, encourage them to continue with it. Remind the person of the importance of sticking to their treatment plan and how far they have come. It can also help if you allow them to vent about their treatment and how hard it has been. Acknowledge their frustration while encouraging them to continue with their treatment.
Be Patient
Recovery from mental health conditions takes time, so be patient and understanding. If you educate yourself about the issues your friend is facing and understand as much as possible about treatments, medications, and therapies that they are receiving, you will be in a better position to understand how long their recovery might take. Understand that many mental health diagnoses are not curable and those living with the condition aren’t trying to recover. Rather, treatment is focused on stabilizing the illness and minimizing symptoms to allow the person living with the diagnosis to live a comfortable and happy life.
Seek Support for Yourself
Supporting someone with a mental health condition can be challenging, so it’s important to take care of your own mental health and seek support when you need it. Setting healthy boundaries in all your relationships is a good step toward a healthy life. In addition, realize when you need a break and when you need to find someone to talk to about your own feelings and experiences. The closer you are to someone receiving treatment for a mental illness, the more likely you are to experience symptoms of caregiver burnout or overwhelm.
Conclusion
In today’s fast-paced and mobile world, connecting with friends is harder and more important than ever before. These tips will help you become a supportive, understanding, and reliable connection for a friend with a mental diagnosis, but they are also important strategies for forming close relationships with any and all of your friends.