Hi guys!
Another week, another blog...
I hope you are all doing well. Has your week productive? Or was it more of a chilled out week? Did you get everything you wanted to get done, done?
Ahhhh! So many questions.
Whether your week was productive, or wasn't, whether you got everything done or didn't, IT IS OK.
Our generation are mostly driven by the ideology that we can't express our innermost thoughts and feelings because that makes us a burden on somebody else. This is a very selfless and selfish way of thinking and I'll explain why.
Selfless, because you don't want to add to the troubles of another and fair enough that is everybody's initial thought.
Selfish, however because you are denying people of that support they are willing to provide you with, which is unfair in my opinion because friends and family are there for that sole purpose.
Due to this suppression of feelings which we tend to get familiar with portraying externally people around us may not notice the changes in our behaviour, which is very common. I did a couple of polls on whether people knew somebody with a mental health disorder and whether they were able to spot somebody with a mental health disorder:
- 75% said that they knew somebody with a mental health disorder (mental health disorder was not reported)
- 73% said that they could notice the signs of when somebody was struggling with their mental health (Again mental health disorder not reported)
This has made me think that the 20%/25% of people who think they don't know somebody struggling witheir mental health probably don't know how to recognise it, and therefore, perhaps may not be able to act in the 'right' way.
(These statistics are in no mean or form a representation of anything as such, they are merely the outcome of a volunteer sample)
(I would just like to add that there are so many mental health disorders out there and I am not going to talk about them all in this one blog, as this is just a general overview of mental health, however if specifics is something you would be interested in reading, please do let me know) I have collated a list of Do's and Dont's -- Things that should and shouldn't be said to a person who is struggling:
Do's:
Check up on them daily if possible - They will appreciate this so much!
Be aware of their triggers
Understand their issue the best you can
Challenge their thoughts
Make time for them
Shift their focus, but make sure this doesn't turn into avoidance
Reframe their vision
Say 'I'm always here for you' (If you mean it and not just out of sympathy)
Notice when they've been 'off'
What can I do to help right now?
Listen to them, not everything needs an answer
Dont's:
Don't try to relate if you can't because it belittles their problem
Don't continuously ask them 'ARE YOU OK?!' this adds pressure to them, making them feel like they need to getter better now.
Do not say 'Wow you need a therapist!'
'Oh here we go again...'
Telling them to calm down doesn't help
Suck it up!
It's not even that big of a deal
I get anxious too!
Why are you always so overwhelmed?
JUST STOP STRESSING
Lastly, I would just like to say that if you are not feeling confident enough to talk to somebody around you, you can always message me on this website. All messages are anonymous they come up saying 'Visitor#8763' so I will get back to you ASAP and I can guarantee that those messages will not be discussed or shared anywhere!I hope this helped!
Thanks:)
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