Mental health is a part of health that is not considered to be of high importance; nevertheless, it is essential. Currently, the WHO states that more than 280 million individuals have depression, but a vast majority of them do not receive adequate treatment for their mental disorders.
In Pakistan, mental health is burdened by stigma and a shortage of professionals who work on mental health cases; that’s why friends and families’ support can be very helpful in many ways.
Understanding Mental Health Challenges
Mental health issues may entail varying symptoms or disorders such as stress, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, and so on. This is the case since mental health literacy in Pakistan is low, and numerous individuals shy off from seeking professional assistance since they will be ostracised and cannot afford to pay for the services. Family and friends in the lives of such persons can play an important role in getting them across to the right professionals.
This is because many people have not come out clearly to express themselves on how they deal with their mental issues. Family and friends, peers, and other essential people can bring comfort to the physical and mental conditions of patients, as they can express themselves in front of those who do not judge them and make them feel uncomfortable. This is because emotional support is usually the initial phase that ensures that one acknowledges the situation and goes for a solution.
Ways Family and Friends Can Offer Support
1. Providing Emotional Support
One crucial element of particular sensitivity towards people with mental health problems is patience and a non-critical attitude. These recommendations include simple acts like listening to them without having interjections, calming words, and acknowledging their feelings.
2. Encouraging Open Conversations
Mental illnesses, like most health complications, are known to develop in loneliness. Enhancing safe and realistic discourse around this topic will promote the conversation for a healthy dialogue for mental health. Asking how the person is, whether they want to talk about it or not, may be enough to let the person know that they are not alone.
3. Recognizing Warning Signs
People close to mentally ill patients should be able to learn signs and symptoms of mental disorders, including depression, withdrawal from social activities, mood swings, and altered eating and sleeping patterns. This can be achieved if there is an early identification of such signs.
4. Encouraging Professional Help
Basically, it is impossible to replace professional care with those few people who surround you with love and care—friends, family members, or other relatives. It is necessary for a person to be encouraged to go for therapy, counselling, or seek medical help if needed. In fact, assisting them in going for appointments or aiding them in finding a mental health professional will go a long way in making them seek the services.
Currently there are very few facilities for mental health in Pakistan, but some organizations like the Pakistan Psychiatric Society as well as NGOs like Rozan are trying their level best to overcome this situation. Such measures can be helpful if the clients are encouraged to approach such organisations.
5. Creating a Supportive Environment
One more aspect that has a great influence on a person’s psychological health is the environment. Practicing good habits like exercise, good nutrition, and rest has been deemed to have an overall beneficial effect on the mental health of the individual. Also, minimising stress factors at home or in society ensures that children and other users are placed in safe conditions.
6. Being Patient and Understanding
Mental health recovery is a process, and people may relapse to earlier stages they had gone through before. Family and friends should not pressure the person to get well as quickly as possible since it takes time. They should keep an empathetic tone even during challenging times because that can help to remind them of their value.
Challenging Stigma Related to Mental Health
The one main factor that hinders the feasibility of mental health care is prejudice in society. For this reason, society has a tendency to not express their problems because they are afraid of being told that they are weak or that they are a weak link.
People’s family and friends can help change these false beliefs due to the fact that they will ensure other people are made to understand that such issues exist and they should accept such illnesses.
Expanding people’s awareness about the existence of mental health conditions, demanding more mental health support, and generally talking about it would be helpful in making society more understanding. Those in Pakistan can still play their part in changing this by introducing mental health topics in schools and workplaces.
As much as mental illnesses are considered personal issues, friends and family play a crucial role in supporting an individual. Having individuals to turn to for support, to encourage phrases that are said, and to listen to a person’s problems can make a world of difference in the process of a person’s healing and rehabilitation.
In our case, as a society, we should strive to ensure that there is no prejudice against people who are in a mental institution. They also have the responsibility regarding awareness, but the change begins within one’s own house, and that is why governments and NGOs must involve the public media. But through encouragement for the person concerned to explain, reducing the taboos around this issue and seeking help from professional personnel, relatives, and friends can build a society that addresses the issue of mental health as it should be.
