How to help someone with a mental health concern.
I especially agree with the first rule, “Offer your Friendship and Support”. You’d be surprised how effective you can be just by being available to listen. It may not seem like much, but it is so infrequent that someone actually takes the time to really stop their lives and listen, that it is a huge help!
I was reminded of this last week, and this month’s Carnival Against Child Abuse focus on relationships had me thinking even more about it. I think, as survivors, we have a tendency to want to hold on to the people we consider friends, for fear that we’ll be abandoned yet again, or be alone, etc….
Pin No, the easiest way to break up those circles, as any kid who threw rocks into the water can tell you, is to throw another rock and create new concentric circles starting from a different location.
In my metaphor about the trauma, I wonder what those other rocks could be. Mental health treatment? Care and support from family and friends? The elimination of stigma attached to trauma?
How about instead of ignoring the circles, we started throwing some more useful rocks and disrupting the cycles of trauma that we see repeated over and over again in those circles?
As I have previously discussed, I no longer consider myself a member of any specific church. I used to, in fact I used to teach Bible Studies on a regular basis, but I no longer do that. On the Tech blog, I mentioned that as part of discussing public speaking in general, and it seemed…
It seems as though there are a number of people I am friends with, or people who’s websites I visit on a regular basis who are dealing with serious illness and coping with the possibility, if not probability, that someone they love will be passing away soon. At times like this I don’t believe there…
I made an interesting realization last night. It has alot to do with what’s been giving me headaches and making me feel sick and just generally making me feel unmotivated. I think it’s my own little bizarre form of Seasonal Affectation Disorder. You see, our winters have been pretty mild, up until this year, and…
I was having a conversation the other day, trying to explain why being embarrassed about asking for help is such a “guy” thing, when the reality struck me dead in the face. Society really tells us that men are independent and don’t need help, and I’ve often wondered if this isn’t the reason men, generally,…
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