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Mental health conditions are common — 1 in 5 adults are affected. Mental health illnesses are health issues that change a person’s thinking, feeling, mood or actions. They can be short-term or long lasting. Some common ones are depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
Research shows that support from family and friends is vital in helping someone with a mental illness. It’s important that you:
Here’s how you can help:
Studies show that when family and friends are taught about a family member’s illness, rates of relapse were reduced by half the first year.
Therapy or counseling with a licensed mental health professional can help people find ways to better cope with issues impacting their mental health. And just like with a physical illness, someone with a mental health issue may also need to take medicine to get better.
Therapy and medicine together, when recommended by your doctor, has been shown in some cases to be an effective way to manage the symptoms of some mental health disorders.
When medicine is part of a treatment plan, medicine compliance is very important. Medicine compliance is an agreement to take the prescribed dose, at the right time for the recommended length of time. It can be a shared decision between the person, their mental health provider and often a family member involved in their care.
Keeping to a medication plan can be hard to do. It is not unusual for some people to not take their medicine as directed. And some don’t take it at all. But failing to stick to the plan can hurt their quality of life or cause complications or a relapse. It can even lead to a hospital stay.
If you notice your family member or friend is having a hard time taking their medicines, encourage them to talk to their doctor or pharmacist. They may have tips for keeping up with medication plans. Setting reminders on phones or using pillboxes to help organize medications may help.
Find ways to offer help. In addition to recommended treatment, support from family and friends is vital in helping someone experiencing a mental health illness.
Originally published 11/2/2020; Revised 2022
Being a supporter for mental health and dealing with a lot of cases regarding mental illnesses, one of the best approaches that I've seen working is to have a mental health checklist and stick to it daily. Many people struggle to coop with that in the beginning but after a couple of weeks they start to treat it as a routine and that's were the magic happens.