When a family member is struggling with mental illness, it can be daunting for family friends and others around to know how to support the family. I can speak from personal experience when I say that there really is nothing anyone can say or do that is the “right thing”. As I wrote in my book, The Path to Joy: 29 Family Strategies for Coping with Mental Illness and finding JOY again, there are a few things that supported us as we went through our son’s suicide attempt and then many long months afterward.
- Prayer Partners—we texted daily with people that said they would pray for us. It was comforting to write the text each morning and know that our son was bring prayed for daily. Daily meditation is also an avenue if you do not want to reach out to others. There are many apps and online supports for learning to meditate.
- Walk—one of my friends insisted that we do a daily walk. She started by bringing us coffees each morning. As I grew in strength and started feeling like I could leave the house, we started walking daily. It was a great way to get out and away from all the issues we were dealing with and to be able to talk with someone. I listened a lot in the beginning, so that I could be distracted, but eventually I felt like I could talk and share what was happening in our lives. Walking really kills two birds with one stone as it gets the body moving in the fresh air and sunlight of the day, and also allows for a “mini-therapy” session of talking and sharing. If walking and talking with someone is not possible, it is still an amazing activity to do alone. Just getting out of the house for a walk and getting all that vitamin D from the sun can be helpful.
- Serve—When my son was in the hospital, people brought us gifts, food, and other things that they thought would cheer us up. This is one of the reasons why I wrote my book—to be something for people to have when they don’t know what to say or do to help a struggling family. The goal was for the book to be very inexpensive and available on Amazon and look pretty in a gift bag that could be hung on someone’s door or dropped off at the hospital. The book is a starting place, something to read on those long days in the hospital or when dealing with mental illness in the home. I’m not a therapist or mental health expert in any way, except that I am living what they are living and that can be a great comfort to families in need.
This is a challenge to support those that are around you in need of help. If you know someone who’s struggling and you don’t know what to do or say, here’s the link to the book: https://www.amazon.com/Path-Joy-Strategies-Illness-Finding/dp/B08LNM5264/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_pl_foot_top?ie=UTF8
