How to support someone improve their mental
health:
Do your homework, work to
understand mental health and how it may impact people
Support someone to exercise. It
may be as simple as organising to take a walk when you catch up
Sleep well
Encourage people to seek
professional help
Encourage people to eat well.
Plenty of fruit and vege!
Work with someone to build some
self-help strategies for when they aren’t feeling well. What helps lift your
mood? Who can you talk to?
Stay connected with them, touch
base frequently
Help the person set some
personal goals to work towards
Model positive self-talk
Model taking care of yourself,
work on all these things for yourself!
Listen non-judgementally
How to listen in a helpful and
non-judgemental manner:
Encourage the person to talk about their thoughts and emotions
Listen without judgement and do not be critical, simply offering solutions to their problems is often detrimental to help seeking behaviour (eg. it’s not that bad, cheer up, you’ve just got to move on from it.)
Choose a safe and comfortable environment to start the conversation. Ensure you have time to listen and avoid distractions or interruptions. Sometimes people don’t feel comfortable having a conversation face-to-face. Have a chat while driving, while on a walk, playing basketball, whatever is comfortable and safe for the person you are talking to.
