|
I’ve noticed – and I’m also saying this from personal experience – that some people who know someone with a mental illness use exactly that (mental illness) as an excuse to walk away, to unfriend you, to be cruel, to play the victim, to think that we need to be sorry for everything.
Why? What did we do to you except for having a mental illness? Were we too much? Not enough? A bit of both? I know that sometimes it’s hard to always be there for someone who is struggling – and some people don’t know how to react or cope with situations that they may find themselves in, but I also don’t think that’s an excuse to be unkind. There’s situations where it might be too much for you and your mental health also, so you may need to take a step back and have a breather. I cannot stress how important it is to take care of yourself first because the only person that you can truly depend on is yourself. So if that’s the case, that is totally valid, but communicate that clearly with them. It’s better for your friend/partner/family member etc. to know what’s going on. If you don’t, chances are they will think they’ve done something wrong and tend to think the worst. I know confrontation can be hard for people and the person that you’re trying to reach out to may not react the way you would like them to, but silence is also the killer. So I guess the three important messages for this piece is:
Again, It’s not always easy supporting someone with a mental illness, especially if you haven’t been through it yourself/to a certain degree. But always make sure they have a good support group of friends and family that can also be there for them when you can’t. And lastly, be thankful that they are confiding in you – sometimes these things are hard to talk about so champion them in their vulnerability and love them where they’re at. x |
