How to Talk About Mental Health

Hello everyone! I want to say hello as I am new to this forum (kind of.) I joined a few months ago but this is my first time making an original post. I am a 34 year old woman learning to thrive with depression, anxiety and ADD. I am not my diagnosis : ) And once I was able to be honest with myself in the ways I was struggling I was able to get the help I need and live a life with increased fruitfulness. I am passionate about mental health and self-love and I hope that we can learn from each other as I explore these forums. I want to let everyone reading this know that you are beautiful, worthy of love and I am wishing you peace and prosperity!

On another yet similar note, I read an interesting article today that said today is #TimetoTalk Day. The event encourages people to talk about mental Health. I learned about this in a Forbes article which gives “the do’s and dont’s” of enaging with others about mental health.
I noticed the rules for this website said not to post links to articles until you have made 30 posts so I listed the title of the article below, in case you would like to look it up as well as some quotes from it.

Feel free to reply by saying what you think about the tips in the article. As for the first tip, I think sometimes advice is helpful and other times it’s not so when engaging with others I tend to ask them what they are looking for specifically and if I have an idea I ask if it is okay to give advice. Have a great day everyone!

Five Rules For Tackling Mental Health During Covid: It’s Time To Talk

Beware Accidental Gaslighting

“The first rule of #TimeToTalk is to dial down the helpful advice. Mental health difficulties have a biological basis and cannot always be overcome by exercise, meditation and a good chat.”

Just Listening
‘So, what should you do instead? Rule two for #TimeToTalk is about just listening. Rather than jumping in with a practical plan, you could gently ask “what’s the best way to support you right now?” or “when you have felt like this before, what kinds of things have helped?”’

Making Real Connections
“If you are concerned, I’d advise starting with just checking in more regularly about nothing in particular, rather than putting someone on the spot. Sometimes a more general chat about the world, what’s on television, a new innovation that’s out, all of this can turn into a larger conversation without it feeling forced. If a phone call feels like a bridge to far, you might start via DMs or text, rather than public feed posts.”

Establish Boundaries
“Yes, we must break the stigma and get better at talking about our feelings, but that does not mean that we are required to be a personal therapist at the expense of our own mental health when someone is dealing with issues that are out of our league. This is not selfish, it is actually the safest thing for everyone.”

Safeguarding
“A final rule for #TimeToTalk is to always remember that in cases of abuse, violence, a crime or serious self-harm then you can act by reporting a serious situation at work or to authorities, or by calling in others who are more closely related. It’s called safeguarding. If you are not sure whether to act, if it involves breaking confidentiality, then you can check this out by telling the story anonymously to a trusted person.”