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How can I help? Myth or fact? General ways to help
There are several things you can do to help any person who you think has a mental health condition:
Recognise the symptoms Be there for the person to talk to if they wish to Maintain confidence as much as possible Don’t try to diagnose the person yourself - even if you are absolutely certain you think you know what is wrong, as Guiders we are not professionally trained to diagnose someone with a condition, and saying your hypothesis might have counterproductive effects Try to help the person seek further help, such as talking to their GP or school nurse, who can then take further action Don’t give up on the person too soon – mental health problems affect many aspects of peoples’ lives, and confidence in others is a common thing to lose. If you leave them before they have other support it may make things worse Make sure you are all right. Helping someone who is having problems, whether they are mental health ones or otherwise, is draining, and might have an effect on your own health – it may be an idea to ring an anonymous charity for support, or go to your GP so he is aware of the situation, but try to make it someone who will keep the situation in confidence.
Myth or fact?
The public’s image of mental health disorders is shaped largely by the impression the media portrays, so it is not surprising that several myths have evolved surrounding mental health conditions. Some of these are explained below.
“Mental health problems are all in the mind” - MYTH
Mental health problems are brain disorders – there is more to your brain than just your mind. If areas of the brain that control happiness, for example, cease to function, then the persons behaviour will be affected. Try saying to someone who has broken their leg that the pain is all in their mind. It is true – pain is psychological, but just as the leg still hurts even if you do think it is all in your mind, so the pain of a mental health problem continues in the same way.
“They can just snap out of it” - MYTH
This is one of the most common misunderstandings – a person with the flu can’t just get up and say they are better, and nor can a person with a mental health problem. To get better takes time and often outside help, whether it be a talking treatment, medication or something else.
“It is impossible to recover from a mental health disorder” - MYTH
This could not be further from the truth. If one in four people experience some sort of mental health problem then a quarter of the human population will never recover, but this just isn’t the case
With the right treatment the majority of people experiencing some sort of mental health problem will recover. It is true that some people will not get better, but that is common to most areas of illnesses – cancer, for example.
“Mental health problems are caused by a weakness in character” - MYTH
Mental health problems are usually caused by a combination of social, biological and psychological factors.
“Mentally ill people are dangerous and violent” - MYTH
This is the image that the media portrays. It is rare to see stories about people who have recovered successfully and without causing to harm to anyone or anything, whereas the mentally ill patient who runs away from a ward and punches someone in a panic will make front page news without any problems at all. In fact very few mentally ill people are violent – often they are more likely to take out their anger and frustration on themselves, rather than others.
What else can I do to help in general?
Find out more – look around, there are thousands of websites and books dedicated to mental health Campaign for yourself – if you feel strongly about mental health there are a range of free resources available. Please email me if you’d like information about where you can get campaign and publicity resources. If you meet someone who has a mental health condition, don’t discriminate against them or be prejudiced – they are just the same as everyone else. Try thinking they just have an illness, like if somebody had the flu – would you discriminate against someone with the flu? Try using positive language – not saying “schizophrenic”, but rather “a person diagnosed with schizophrenia” – the illness is not the person, so don’t label them as though it were.
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