Hello everyone! Welcome to this week’s post. May is Mental Health Awareness month and with that in mind, I have been sharing a few things regarding mental health.

Today’s post is one I should have posted last week but I was scared of being misunderstood. I wasn’t going to post it but I have decided to go ahead and I’ll do my best to make sure everything I explain myself well.

Last week, I wrote about what to keep in mind when helping a friend with a mental health issue. This week, I would like to turn it around. What do I have to consider when talking to my friend about my mental health issues?

You Can Also Read: Things to Keep in Mind when Helping a Friend with a Mental Health Issue

It is extremely important to get help when you are struggling mentally. I don’t think people were designed to figure everything out on their own and so we should always get help when we need it. Talk to your friends and see if they can help you or get professional help.

However, one thing to consider when talking to your friends is whether they themselves are in a good space mentally. How do you know if they are? Ask them.
Over the years, I have come to realise the importance of asking your friend if they are able to listen to you or asking if they are in a good place mentally to listen to whatever it is you have going on. A lot of times we just text and start going off about things that are bothering us without thinking about them. We take it for granted that our friends help us.

Certain conversations may actually be too difficult or heavy for friends to have. Other conversations might even be triggering. There is no way of knowing that if we don’t ask before unpacking everything on the next person.
I’m not saying don’t talk to your friends when you need help, I’m just saying ask if your friend can handle a certain conversation before you have it. I promise you, asking goes a long way.

Also, let’s try and get professional help. If you are in a position to talk to a therapist or psychologist, please do it. Let us not stigmatize therapy. I’ve never gone for therapy but from people who have, I have seen and heard how helpful therapy can be.

Sometimes, our friends might not know the answers or how best to help us but a therapist might. Therapists are also trained to handle certain information and friends aren’t. Unless your therapist is your friend. I think maybe therapy is expensive and so we end up asking our friends to play therapists. I understand that sometimes we can be so overwhelmed and desperately need to talk and when that is the case, please go ahead. Let’s just also make sure we check on our friends. The “strong ones” too.

Again, I’m not saying let’s not talk to friends. I’m saying let’s also check on them. Especially that friend we are always going to with our problems. Make sure they aren’t battling anything so that you aren’t adding fuel to the fire.

Last year, I shared some tips on how to boost your mental health. You can read that post here.

You Can Also Read: Mental Health Matters

Let’s all look after our mental health and try to make sure we aren’t negatively affecting other people’s mental heath in the process. If you can, get professional help.

How often do you check on your friends? Are you the friend who is always listening to other people’s problems? Let me know in the comments below! (I’ll be back to talk about toxic handlers someday soon.)

Thanks for reading!
Love,
Wonani Xx

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Check out these articles for more information on Mental Health Awareness:

1. Mental health: Definition, common disorders, early signs and more

2. Friendship and mental health

3. Why you should be checking on your strong friends

For more articles, view this post.