Talking about your Mental Health

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

How to know when its time to talk:

•    different signs can indicate that you could benefit from talking to someone, such as –
•    your feelings, thoughts or behaviours are starting to affect your life in a way that you wish to change or find unhealthy/unhelpful
•    you are experiencing emotional distress, including feelings of sadness, anxiety, irritability, angers, etc.
•    you observe factors in your lifestyle such as loss of appetite/overeating, not getting enough sleep/sleeping too much, etc.
•    you are facing difficulties in concentration, memory or thinking clearly
•    you find yourself pulling away from interests or the people around you
•    you aren’t able to set and/or complete tasks as you’d wish to

..so on and so forth. If you’d like to know more about when one can need therapy, please read this post.

Whom to talk to:

• Find a person you trust to listen to you, and help you plan your next steps

• This could be a family member, a friend, a teacher, or a mental health professional

PREPARING FOR THE TALK 

• Find information that would help you speak about what’s bothering you – if it helps, make a list of such points to keep with you during the conversation 

• Understand what it is that you’re expecting from this conversation – to be listened to, to discuss how you wish to deal with your concerns, to ask for suggestions, etc. 

• You might not want to rush through this conversation, so be sure to take out enough time so you’re able to share what you wish to 

• You could ask the other person to do the same – letting them know that you wish to talk about something that’s important to you beforehand might also help respect their boundaries along with their time. This might be particularly important if you anticipate that you, or they, or possibly both parties are likely to feel overwhelmed or any other difficult emotions before, during or after this conversation 

• Learn more about mental health stigma and how it can affect the process of asking and taking support for mental health concerns 

WHILE TALKING 

• Talking about your feelings, thoughts or behavior can be associated with discomfort, probably in terms of anxiety, embarrassment, awkwardness, etc. 

• Remember that talking about your concerns may help you feel better supported, and might encourage the other person to speak about theirs more openly as well 

• If you can’t find a way to express exactly what you’re feeling or thinking, try talking about it as best as you can. This may be expected especially if you’re as of yet just starting to make efforts to understand what you’re going through 

• Expect to answer some questions in return, as doing so might help you understand their perspective on things and thus helpful to you in turn. However keep in mind that you don’t have to respond if you don’t wish to

• Talk about what they can do to support you 

AFTER THE TALK

• Remember that receiving social support can be important if you’re dealing with difficult emotions, any other mental health concerns or illness. Don’t let one (or more) unfavourable outcomes deter you from asking for the support you need

• The act of disclosure, that is, opening up to someone about something you’ve been keeping to yourself for a while can feel relieving. In this way, you might also be making space for the other person to share their personal experiences, which is likely to make you feel less alone

• Its possible that the person you speak is not able to understand your expression and concerns in the way you wish for them to – particularly if they haven’t experienced similar struggles or faced their struggles in the way that you are choosing to

•  Remember that this conversation is likely to be the first step in your recovery, and if you haven’t already met with a mental health professional, your next step might be to schedule an appointment with one.

• You may need to have more than one such conversation so as to build a healthy support system for yourself. Your choice is paramount to any other factors in doing so.

• It’s important to note that recovery can take time, but mental health concerns are common and generally entirely treatable