5 Ways To Support a Friend Struggling With Their Mental Health

It can be easy to feel helpless or out of your depth with a friend who is experiencing a difficult time with their mental health. I’ve put together a few tips on the ways you can be a better friend to someone whatever they’re going through.

DISCLAIMER: I have drawn from my own experience for this blog post, so therefore it will predominately be centred around depression and anxiety. Although I like to think a lot of these tips are quite transferable to other mental health issues.

1. Let them know you’re there, regardless of what state they are in. Don’t forget about them or make them feel forgotten about. When a person doesn’t feel worthy or deserving of anything, feeling isolated doesn’t help either. Just a little text can make all the difference. I also don’t think we should be afraid of asking straight out, ‘How’s your mental health at the moment?’. Fighting a mental health battle can be a really lonely place, and they might feel like they are lowering the tone in a conversation if they bring it up, so give your friend an opportunity to be honest.

2. Make the effort – My friend Jem tags me and sends me inspiring pictures on Instagram, she does this most days and it’s such a great little pick me up. I know she’s thinking of me, and it helps without me having to do anything. When I was in the midst of depression and felt really low, my sister took me out to get my nails done. She would also make sure we booked things in so that I always had things to look forward to and kept busy. Personally this helps my mental health massively. Sometimes it’s the little things that aren’t necessarily to do with mental health at all that help the most. You don’t have to be a mental health professional to have an impact!

3. That being said, let them know they can be honest with you. Mental Health is the ultimate expert at disintegrating any kind of energy and self-worth. Let them know that their feelings are valid, even if you disagree with their thoughts. Be a sounding board for them and try not to talk about yourself too much. Ask them how you can help them, but be prepared that they might not have an answer, sometimes it feels overwhelming when you don’t even know how to help yourself, let alone advising someone else how to do it.

4. Keep checking in on them. Don’t assume they are ‘all better’ because they seem a bit happier or more confident. Whilst these are definitely things to celebrate, even depressed and anxious people can have good days, and sometimes we can appear ‘up’ around others, but things return to normal once we are alone with our thoughts.

5. Make sure you look after yourself too. As Ed Sheeran says (I think lyrics must be one of my love languages!) ‘Before I save someone else, I’ve got to save myself’ – and this is super important! Be mindful of your own mental health, and whilst I’ve stated the importance of making the effort, remember that you can only do so much.

I also recommend checking out Blurt for more info and resources on mental health.