Everyone has mental health but when there becomes a consistent change which leads to making day to day life harder and sometimes impossible, then that is when it is classed as a disorder, such as, depression and/or anxiety.

Living with a mental health illness

Mental illnesses can leave people feeling lost and feeling like they are a burden for those they are surrounded by. It becomes nearly impossible to reach out for help as there is a lot of stigma surrounding mental health disorders.

People living with a mental health disorder are easily distressed by trigger events. An example would be someone with borderline personality disorder (BPD) could feel as if they are losing a friend, which triggers their fear of abandonment and results in trying to stop that.

What causes the issues?

There are a variety of factors that determine the way our lives will end up looking, including how our mental health is. Factors such as the environments we grew up in and the ones we choose for ourselves. The relationships we have throughout our lives and whether they are healthy or not.

Types of emotions

A variety of emotions are associated with mental health disorders. The most common are fear, guilt, confusion, embarrassment and many more. All these create significant daily challenges.

Difficulties and challenges

A clear challenge faced would be asking for help, even from close friends and family. It can be a daunting experience. As well as this daily and essential needs are disrupted, such as getting good sleep and maintaining relationships with those closest. Keeping jobs can also become a challenge for some.

How day to day life is affected for those living with mental health illnesses

Significant impacts on everyday life from mental health disorders add a huge struggle for those with mental health problems, diagnosed or not.

Some of those struggles include:

• Not being able to get enough sleep or sleeping too much
• Being unable to work or hold a job down
• Being unable to leave the house
• Having a hard time when making calls/booking appointments etc
• Ability to create meaningful relationships becomes challenging
• Eating enough or too much
• Not being able to stay present
• Loss of interest in activities once enjoyed, can become frustrating for those it happens too and confusing to the people in their lives
• Not being able to get basic needs for themselves
• Not being able to get out of bed
• Experience loss of energy nearly/or every day
• Struggle accessing support for various reasons
• Stigma from society

Battling Stigma

What is it?

Stigma is the thoughts and reactions of what society thinks about those with mental health illnesses. Self-stigma is the thoughts we have about our own mental health.

Stigma leaves a lot of fear surrounding support and reaching out for it, making it become more of a threat than what it’s meant for. Which leads to people with mental health disorders being excluded from the rest of society.

How to make it easier

Some things you can do to help battle stigma is:

• Show compassion to those who struggle with their mental health
• Encourage a conversation about mental health
• Further educate yourself and others
• Actively get involved with anything to do with mental health, join campaigns, donate etc if you can

Impact from society on those living with mental health problems

Just like stigma there becomes a lot of challenges that society causes, adding extra stress and isolation from the ‘outside world’

From people not believing in mental health disorders, to people purposely targeting someone because of them. They are harmful impacts and continue to add stereotypes to those facing struggles every day because of their mental health.

Another struggle that people with mental health problems face is social isolation and being left out from general society. Usually because of stereotypes that still surround mental health.

The media also plays a role when discussing problems faced for people with mental health disorders. Portraying people to be crazy and/or dangerous as no proper research is done and a lack of empathy and understanding is presented.

How to get support

There are many options of support but knowing what’s the best one for you at the right time is the hardest. Here are some to think about:

• Someone you trust, family, friends etc
  • It can sometimes help to speak to someone you know and trust about what’s going on in your mind/life. They can even help you to get further support.
• A therapist
  • Your doctor can refer you or you might be able to contact them directly, depending on individual situation.
• Support services
  • There are many services you can access or be referred to if needed. Such as, residential care services, student services as well as workplace support.
• Your doctor (GP)
  • Can help when making a diagnosis, refer you to mental health specialists and offer any local support that is available.

Find out more information on each here: How to seek help for a mental health problem | Mind, the mental health charity – help for mental health problems

How to make it easier to get help

Types of communication

Often communication is a common challenge among the global population, especially those with mental health disorders. There are different types of communication strategies and are often perceived by attachment styles. The three main attachment styles are anxious, avoidant, and secure. All these are a product of the way we grow up; all of these are also changeable with the right support and time.

Secure Attachment: The healthy attachment style, grew up learning to seek comfort when frightened, feelings were welcome. Which results in meaningful relationships, usually have a positive look on life and are comfortable with sharing emotions with others.

Anxious Attachment: Learnt not to rely on parents or authority figures, which results in becoming clingy and dependant on others, often have fears of abandonment

Avoidant Attachment: Most learnt to avoid parents, not seeking a lot of comfort. Usually have a positive view of self but not of others

Although these are the main attachment styles it’s important to remember that each varies from person and person, are often known by other names and some have branches, such as Avoidant dismissive and avoidant fearful.

How to be there for a loved one

As said above it is sometimes challenging to communicate with others and that’s why finding preferred ways of talking and listening is a good idea. It doesn’t always look like long conversations, sometimes it’s simply sharing a song and analysing the lyrics together.

How to know if someone needs help

Reaching out and asking for help isn’t always verbal and a simple “I need help” here are some things to look out for when wondering if someone needs some extra help.

• There’s a noticeable change in their behaviour.
• There’s a change in the way they usually react, getting more irritated or distracted than usual, they start to become reckless.
• They have big changes going on in their lives where they may need some more support
• They start to cancel plans often.
• They become easily tired even when doing small tasks

How to be emotionally available

Being emotionally available simply means the ability to create emotional bonds with others. However, doing this can be challenging for many people.

Some ways to make this easier are:

• Make time for the person/people involved
• Give space for the person/people involved
• Allow everyone to feel their emotions openly and freely
• Take responsibility for your emotions
• Openly say what you are feeling
• Stay present

Getting the most out of therapy and why people like it

Just like any form of interaction we have throughout our lives, getting to know someone and building trust takes time, it is no different from getting a therapist. It takes time to find the right therapist for you and there’s no shame in saying one isn’t right.

Only go for yourself, not because you want to change others. Not everyone is ready for therapy, and everyone gets something different out of it. Some like having a space to talk openly about what’s on their minds, a space they can go to where they don’t feel judged. A set time where people can reflect on the challenges they face.

Types of disorders

Some of the main types of disorders are:

• Anxiety Disorders

There are many types of anxiety disorders, the most known are:

• Generalised anxiety disorder
• Social anxiety disorder
• Phobias
• OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder)

• Personality Disorders
• Personality disorders are put in to three different clusters, A, B and C.
• People in cluster A find it hard to relate to others, an example of A is Schizoid personality disorder.
• People in cluster B have difficulties in controlling their emotions, an example of B is borderline personality disorder.
• People in cluster C are led by strong feelings of anxiety, an example of C is Obsessive-compulsive personality disorder. This is different to OC.

• Mood Disorders
• Depression and Bipolar disorder are the most known mood disorders. However, more falls into this category, such as: Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)

• Sleep Disorders
• Insomnia disorder, narcolepsy and parasomnias are the most known sleep disorders.

• Eating Disorders
• A lot are not fully aware of the different types of eating disorders. However, the most known are Bulimia nervosa, binge-eating disorder, and Anorexia nervosa

Other types of disorders include Dissociative disorders, Substance abuse disorders, Neurodevelopmental disorders and many more. A full list of all mental health disorders can be found on the DSM-5 online or simply by searching ‘list of mental health disorders’

While many have the same mental health disorders as each other, it’s important to note that the symptoms vary from person to person. An example of this would be two different people living with BPD. Person A main struggle is feelings of emptiness, while Person B’s main struggle might be surrounding fear of abandonment.

Many do not believe in mental health disorders, mainly because they are mostly hidden. Which means none of us truly know what someone is going through, no matter how long we have known someone. In fact, 1 in 4 of us will experience a mental health problem at some point in our lives. Therefore, we must always be patient and compassionate with those we encounter day to day. Although, this is sometimes hard to do which is why listening and allowing spaces for people to talk openly and freely is so important.

It often doesn’t become important or real enough until people can physically see someone’s struggles. Mental health is just as important as physical health.

It is not a weakness to speak out.

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