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How to Help a Family Member with Mental Illness
If you have a family member that has a mental illness, you know how challenging it may be at times. How you actually support that family member really has a huge impact on their overall well-being. Here are some things you can do to help those within your family who are dealing with a mental illness.
Proper Diagnosis- If you suspect a family member is suffering from depression, anxiety, phobias, etc, it is important that they are seen by a family doctor. They should be able to offer them temporary and/or immediate help. They would also be able to give them a referral to a medical doctor that specializes in psychiatric illnesses, if need be.
Work with Treatment Team- Once your family member has been diagnosed, it is important to work with your family member’s treatment team as much as possible. While there may be things that complicate this process like HIPAA laws and confidentiality barriers, it is something you can overcome with some patience and persistence. Talk with their psychiatrist and social worker to see if they have suggestions on what you may be able to do to help your family member.
Allow Some Control- One of the things that people with mental illness deal with is feelings of losing control of certain aspects of their lives. It is for this reason that it is important that you treat them with the respect they deserve and allow them some control over things. For instance, if they like to smoke but you think they smoke too much, don’t try and hide their cigarettes or constantly preach to them about the dangers of smoking. Instead, let them make their own choice in this instance.
Become Familiar with Diagnosed Illness- In order to help your family member to understand the complexity of their mental illness, you should become familiar with the disease yourself. Use online resources for clinical terminology, symptoms,
Recognize the Symptoms- Learn to recognize the symptoms of an episode and work on eliminating the fears and anxiety that triggers it.
Join Support Groups- There are probably support groups for those suffering from mental illness as well as support groups for family members as well. Here you will be able to collaborate with others who may have family members that are going through the same psychiatric episodes as your loved one. treatment, and so forth.
Books to Purchase- Here are a few books that are worth having in your personal library.
When Someone You Love Has a Mental Illness by Rebecca Woolis
I Am Not Sick, I Don’t Need Help! How to Help Someone with a Mental Illness Accept Treatment by Xavier Amador
The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope with Mental Illness by David A. Karp
The Family Guide to Mental Health Care by Lloyd I. Sederer
Hidden Victims Hidden Healers: An Eight-Stage Healing Process for Families and Friends of the Mentally Ill by Julie Tallard Johnson
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Thank you for sharing this information. Mental illness is very common, however a lot of families do not know or understand how to assist and help others with mental illness. I am excited to be able to share this information.
Sadly there are so many barriers to confront in regards to mental illness. The stigma. The fact that it is hard to change or get new medical if you have a ‘pre-existing’ condition and the fear that it could impede the progress of seeking new employment as well. Great post, the more we talk about it, the better the chance of these barriers to mental health decreasing
This is such a great help! You have a lot of information here. I definitley think doing your research and understanding the illness will help everyone involved.
This is all great advice!! It can be so hard to know how someone needs you to react to a diagnosis like this in their lives. I have had a couple friends who been diagnosed, I know I always tried to research what was going on with them.
Thank you very much for your helpful and thoughtful advice. I can imagine how difficult it is for anyone to show understanding and communicate well to any loved one that has a mental illness. If the situation happens to me I will definitely do the needed research on it so I can try to be prepared.
I think it’s excellent advice to join a support group! I think sharing what you’re going through with other people is definitely therapeutic.
I believe I am suffering from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and it has been less stressful for me ever since my husband learned about my disorder and learned to accept me and my OCD. Now, I am having a hard time making my mother understand what OCD is all about.. I hope she can read this post.
I’m familiar with mental illness and these are excellent suggestions that I know would work within my family.
Lee
Luckily there is so much information at our fingertips these days, so we are able to figure out what is wrong faster. I hope I never have to go through this, but at least I know what information to look for if it happens.
This is important information every family should know about. Research is key to success.
What a great post with tips and resources. There are several people close to my husband that have a mental illness and it can be so hard. I think I’ll pick up one of these books.
These are good ideas to help. I personally do not have a family member with mental illness, but have a friend who does.
As the person with the mental illness in my family (Bipolar Disorder), I think you gave a lot of great advice. For my husband, I needed to him to help me and push me but GENTLY. Choices had to be mine.
These are very great tips and ideas! I don’t have anyone in the family who has a mental sickness, but it’s still important to be aware. It could also help when suddenly faced with a situation where you have to deal with a stranger who happens to have such a condition.