Mental Health Awareness Week❤️💐

Sending my best wishes and love to everyone!
Mental Health is important!
Pay attention to your friend, child, relative they may be suffering even if they don’t show it❤️💐

(via mental health.org.uk)

Why is Mental Health Important?

Mental health includes our emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how we think, feel, and act. It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others, and make healthy choices. Mental health is important at every stage of life, from childhood and adolescence through adulthood.

Mental Illness?

A mental illness is a physical illness of the brain that causes disturbances in thinking, behavior, energy or emotion that make it difficult to cope with the ordinary demands of life. Research is starting to uncover the complicated causes of these diseases which can include genetics, brain chemistry, brain structure, experiencing trauma and/or having another medical condition, like heart disease.

Disorders…the most common ones are:

Anxiety Disorders –A lot of people each year struggle with some type of anxiety disorder, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder (panic attacks), generalized anxiety disorder and specific phobias.

Mood Disorders – Mood disorders, such as depression and bipolar depression, affect nearly 10% of adults each year and are characterized by difficulties in regulating one’s mood.

(via Pinterest.org)

Common symptoms of a nervous stomach may include: “butterflies” in the stomach. tightness, churning, cramping, knots in the stomach. feeling nervous or anxious.

Whether it’s a single nerve-wracking event or chronic worry and stress over time, stress can exact a physical toll on your digestive system. When you are anxious, some of the hormones and chemicals released by your body enter your digestive tract, where they interfere with digestion.

(Via adaa.org)

What you can do to help?

Showing individuals respect and acceptance removes a significant barrier to successfully coping with their illness. Having people see you as an individual and not as your illness can make the biggest difference for someone who is struggling with their mental health.
Advocating within our circles of influence helps ensure these individuals have the same rights and opportunities as other members of your church, school and community.
Learning more about mental health allows us to provide helpful support to those affected in our families and communities.

Your child/relative/friend

It’s important for children and youth to have strong relationships with family and friends.

Show lots of love and acceptance.
Praise them when they do well. Recognize their efforts as well as what they achieve.
Ask questions about their activities and interests.
Help them set realistic goals.

Listen, and respect their feelings:

It’s OK for children and youth to feel sad or angry. Encourage them to talk about how they feel.
Keep communication and conversation flowing by asking questions and listening to your child. Mealtime can be a good time for talking.
Help your child find someone to talk to if they don’t feel comfortable talking to you.

Friendship can play a key role in helping someone live with or recover from a mental health problem and overcome the isolation that often comes with it. It’s natural to worry when a friend is troubled and most of us don’t want to give up on a friend in distress, however difficult it may be to support them.

Why is friendship important when someone is unwell?

When someone has a mental health problem or is experiencing mental distress, it is important to try to keep friendships going, even though people with mental health problems often want to see their friends less than usual.

Friendships work both ways. A mental health problem doesn’t mean that you’re never able to support or laugh with someone else.

How does mental ill health affect friendships?

People with more severe forms of mental illness have smaller social networks than others and have more family members than friends in their social circle.
People with smaller social networks, with fewer intimate relationships, find it more difficult to manage social situations.
People with more long-lasting mental health problems often have relationships mainly with other people with mental health problems.
People with mental health problems often anticipate rejection from other people because of the stigma associated with mental health. They may avoid social contact, as a form of ‘€˜self-stigma’

Friendships change and sometimes they fade away or end abruptly. You may want to take time to reflect on each of your friendships and what they offer you.

If a friend no longer contacts you, it’s understandable to feel rejected, but you are not responsible for other people’s reaction to your problems. If one person ends your friendship, it doesn’t mean that others will do the same.

If you are the friend of someone experiencing mental health problems who seems to be withdrawing from your friendship, try to understand what your friend may be going through. Their difficulties may be only temporary. Give them the space they need and make sure they know how they can contact you at a later date if they decide to get back in touch.

How do I tell my friend?

Pick a friend you trust as the first person you tell. Work out how to talk about your mental health problem in a way that will make it as easy as possible for both of you to avoid embarrassment.

You may want to practise your opening sentence or you may want to play it by ear. Choose a time and a place where you will both feel comfortable.

You could phone or write to your friend, but if you do, try and talk to them face to face afterwards as well.

Some people react dramatically to news like this. Be ready for your friend to be shocked or not to take it in at first. Although mental health problems are common, this may be the first time they’ve heard someone talk about having one.

How should I respond to hearing about my friend’s problem?

If you’re the friend of someone with a mental health problem, you may be concerned about them. The most important thing is to tell them that you’re still their friend. If your friend is comfortable with being touched, a hug shows that you care about them and that you accept them whatever problems they are having.

Take your cue from your friend. Are they comfortable with questions or would they rather talk about something else? Don’t promise things you may not be able to deliver. How can you help them best?

People with mental health problems often need different things from their friends at different times and friends show their support in different ways.