How Do You Offer Mental Health Support?

Here's what's happening on the HealthyPlace site this week:

• How Do You Offer Mental Health Support?
• From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs
• Video: Bipolar Disorder and Self-Love
• Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans
• Mental Health Quote

------------------------------------------------------------------

Facebook Live This Wednesday

People love our Facebook Live events with therapist, Emily Roberts. Emily will be taking your personal mental health questions this Wednesday evening. We start at 7p CT / 8 ET. I hope you’ll join us and feel free to invite others. Our page is here: You can check out our previous mental health Facebook Live here.

------------------------------------------------------------------

How Do You Offer Mental Health Support?

Have you ever wanted to be there for someone who is facing mental health difficulties, but you weren’t quite sure what to say? (Supporting the Mentally Ill: Best Things to Say) Of course you meant well. You just weren’t sure how to talk about mental health support. Wanting to reach out supportively to someone but not knowing how to proceed is common. Try these five ideas for supporting someone facing mental health difficulties.

5 Supportive Things to Say to Support Someone Facing Mental Health Challenges

1. I’m here to talk when you need someone to listen. This opens the door without pressuring someone to share on the spot.
2. We haven’t had a chance to have fun together lately. Let’s go ______. This shows that you still enjoy being with the person.
3. Maybe we can walk side by side through this. You don’t have to try to fix anything. Being there with someone is helpful in and of itself.
4. You are important to a lot of people. Gently reminding someone that he or she is a positive part of others’ lives is powerful.
5. I believe in you. I want to help you believe in yourself again, too. This helps build someone up without minimizing what they’re going through.

Simply showing up in someone’s life to be with him or her is one of the best possible ways to show support. These five simple statements will bolster someone’s mental health—and your own, too.

Related Articles Dealing with Mental Health Support

• How to Support Someone with Bipolar Disorder
• Best and Worst Things to Say to Someone Who Is Depressed
• Rules of Eating Disorder Support
• Supporting a Person With an Anxiety Disorder

Your Thoughts

Today's Question: Whether you’ve given mental health support, received support, or both, what have you found to be particularly helpful? We invite you to participate by sharing your thoughts, knowledge, and experience on the HealthyPlace Facebook page and on the HealthyPlace Google+ page.

continue story below

From the HealthyPlace Mental Health Blogs

On all our blogs, your comments and observations are welcomed.

• Bipolar Disorder and Romanticizing Things
• Mental Illnesses Are Not Insults
• Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder Tips for School and Beyond
• Self-Care in Recovery from Addiction Has Three Parts
• Decrease Anxiety and Confidence Increases: How Do You Do It?
• Recovery After My First Schizophrenic Episode
• Calm Anxious Negative Thoughts in Seconds
• Your Eating Disorder Recovery Story: Share It Responsibly
• When PTSD and Intimacy Collide: What Really Happens?
• How Online Therapy for Anxiety Can Help You
• Mental Illness Struggles in My Teens, 20s, and 30s
• How to Prepare Mentally Ill Children for Natural Disasters
• Dreams About Abuse and How I’m Using them to Recover
• Why Do People with ADHD Have Problems Sleeping?

Feel free to share your thoughts and comments at the bottom of any blog post. And visit the mental health blogs homepage for the latest posts.

------------------------------------------------------------------

From HealthyPlace YouTube Channel

I'm Hannah. I Have Bipolar 2

Bipolar Disorder and Finding the Right Job

Finding a suitable job when you live with bipolar disorder is difficult, so I want to share my experience with the job search after my diagnosis of bipolar 2 disorder. (Watch Hannah)

------------------------------------------------------------------

Most Popular HealthyPlace Articles Shared by Facebook Fans

Here are the top 3 mental health articles HealthyPlace Facebook fans are recommending you read:

1. How To Sit Through a Panic Attack When You Can’t Leave
2. 7 Quick Ways to Use Nature to Help Treat Anxiety
3. Pursuing Dreams and Setting Goals with a Mental Illness

If you're not already, I hope you'll join us/like us on Facebook too. There are a lot of wonderful, supportive people there.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Mental Health Quote

"It just occurred to me that many people are actually afraid to heal because their entire identity is centered around the trauma they’ve experienced. They have no idea who they are outside of trauma and that unknown can be terrifying."

Read more mental health quotes.

------------------------------------------------------------------

That's it for now. If you know of anyone who can benefit from this newsletter or the HealthyPlace.com site, I hope you'll pass this onto them. You can also share the newsletter on any social network (like facebook, stumbleupon, or google+) you belong to by clicking the links below. For updates throughout the week, circle HealthyPlace on Google+, follow HealthyPlace on Twitter or become a fan of HealthyPlace on Facebook. Also, check out HealthyPlace on Pinterest and share your mental health pins on our Share Your Mental Health Experiences board.

back to: HealthyPlace.com Mental-Health Newsletter Index