Supporting Loved Ones Struggling with their Mental Health

Do you have a family member or friend who is navigating mental health challenges?   

Supporting someone through their mental health struggles requires patience, and it can take time to learn how best to respond to them or their needs. While it’s not always easy, your presence and support make a difference and can contribute to their recovery.   

Here are some practical tips for supporting your loved ones through their mental health challenges.   

Educate yourself about mental health: Start by finding out more about mental health, including common signs of mental health distress and various resources available in Singapore. With the right knowledge, you can more effectively guide your loved one towards the right help.   

Active listening: Don’t be too quick to offer solutions or provide an answer in a conversation. The art of active listening lies in listening to understand, not simply listening to provide a response. We all want to and need to feel heard, especially when we’re struggling with difficult thoughts and emotions.   

Do not say that you understand: Avoid ‘feel good’ phrases like “I understand” as we cannot truly grasp the reality of another person’s mental health journey. Instead, try saying phrases like “I can’t imagine how difficult it is for you, but I’m here to listen”, which can help them feel heard and supported.   

Avoid judging or assuming: In the same way that we’re unable to fully understand what our loved one is going through, it’s important that we avoid judging them for how they cope or assume what’s best for them. Instead, be empathetic about their situation and seek to validate their emotions.   

Offer your help: Check up on your loved one frequently by asking how they are doing and offering to help with small, specific tasks or actions that can help lower their stress. Some examples include buying their meals, running errands, or sitting with them through mundane tasks like folding laundry.  

Be patient: Recovery is a journey that takes time. It is common for individuals to fluctuate between feeling better and spiraling back into negative emotions. Avoid putting the burden of helping them recover on yourself or pressuring them to get better because ‘it has taken a while’.  Sometimes just simply being there and listening to them is enough to make them feel cared for and supported.   

Seek professional help: If you notice that your loved one’s mental health struggles are becoming increasingly difficult to manage, gently suggest that they seek professional guidance. TOUCH Counselling & Psychological Services offers support for those who are distressed. You may call the TOUCHline at 1800 377 2252 (Mondays to Fridays, 9am to 6pm) to speak with a counsellor.     

As an advocate of mental wellness, TOUCH Mental Wellness (TMW) has been organising mental wellness awareness mass runs, talks and workshops since 2015. It works closely with corporations to conduct mental wellness talks with an aim of equipping employees with handles to cope with stress and help them build resilience. It also specialises in mental wellness awareness and educational programmes for schools. In 2018, TMW launched a Virtual Reality (VR) Immersive Experience on depression as part of its school-based mental wellness programme, Do You M.I.N.D.?. It also launched Singapore’s first-ever VR Gaming Experience to educate students on anxiety in a fun and engaging way.