A Positive Mind: Using Your Mental Health Experiences To Help Others
There are more people than ever before battling mental health problems, and the numbers are expected to rise over the forthcoming decades. While it can be tough to look at these types of conditions with a positive aspect, there are some good things that can come from them. If you’ve successfully overcome one of the many mental health problems that plague society, you’ll be able to use your experiences to help the others who are in the same position as you once were. Below, we take a look at how you can use the dark times of your life and turn them into something positive.
Opening Up
We’ve come along way as a society with how we talk about the problems of the mind, but we can always do more. If you’ve suffered from depression, anxiety, or one of the many other common mental health issues, one of the best – and most powerful – things you can do is open up about your experiences with other people. There’s no shame in battling mental problems; it’s the opposite, in fact. You’ve overcome difficulties, and knowing that there’s an escape route will give others the encouragement they need to overcome their own demons.
Be Sensitive To Others
Once you’ve suffered from problems yourself, you become all too aware that everybody else on the planet has things they’re struggling with or insecure about. You might have hidden your problems under a facade that everything, on the surface, is all good and well. If you encounter people who annoy you or you think aren’t acting in the right way, be kind to them. They might be suffering from problems that you could never know about, and your act of kindness might really help them move forward.
Going Professional
What people with mental health problems need is someone with experience to talk to, and to help them cope with their conditions. If you’ve had problems, then you’re a perfect candidate for working with people in a professional capacity. Study for an online psychology degree, and you’ll be able to become a counsellor, social worker, correctional treatment specialist, or any of the other professions that help others. You’ll likely have received help from other people on your quest to becoming mentally healthy; by making helping others your career, you’ll be able to pay that help forward…while getting paid.
If you don’t want to go ahead and get a degree for yourself, you could always talk about your experiences with a dual diagnosis treatment center and put them onto the right people. You don’t have to be the professional that helps others, but you can definitely recommend professional services that you have had past experiences with. Your experience will matter in the same way people turn to their friends and family for vacation ideas. If you have been helped, then you can use your experience to help other people and that will make a difference to them in the long term. Don’t be afraid to share where you got the help; you’ll be the guiding hand your friends or loved ones need.
Sharing Coping Tools
If you don’t want to open up about your experiences in a direct way, then you can help others in other ways. You’ll have picked up a lot of coping tools over the years, such as simple things that can improve mental well-being, such as being outdoors, exercising, finding a passion, eating well, and the like. Not everybody knows the things that can give our brains a positive boost. By writing blogs, ebooks, or having a YouTube channel or podcast, you can share the things that not only minimise the symptoms of mental health problems but also bring long-term happiness.
Starting Your Own Organisation
There are a lot of resources that people with mental health problems can use, but there can always be more. Some organisations are too general when what’s really needed is a specific approach to help people in unique circumstances. For example, if you fell into a depression following the loss of your job, you could start a local organisation that focuses on people who have lost their jobs. It’s easier to think to start your own organisation, and it’ll be of real use to people; if you’ve lived through something specific, then the chances are high that someone else has to.
Campaigning For Change
Scientists are still pretty hazy when it comes to figuring out what exactly causes mental health problems, though they do have some ideas. While you can’t campaign to change the genetics of a person, you can use people power to campaign against the social and political issues that can cause people to fall into mental health problems. For example, if access to outdoor spaces is being reduced, then that’s something you can advocate to change.
Day-To-Day
Helping people who are suffering from mental health problems is good, of course, but don’t forget about the people who don’t understand what it’s like. In many ways, there is a stigma against these problems because the general public isn’t educated on what it’s like. You can make a difference on a day to day basis by teaching the people you encounter. People who are mentally well will only begin to learn what it’s like if they’re taught by people who have lived through it before.
Small Victories
We’re presented with opportunities to do good all the time, we just very often neglect to take advantage of these opportunities. If you do what you when, when you can, then it’ll help make the world a better place. If you suspect a friend, family member, colleague, or anybody else is going through a difficult time, then make sure they know you’re there to chat with them if they need to talk. While doing the big stuff can have a hugely beneficial impact on the world, it’s very often the small details that matter most.
Being the Best You Can Be
It sounds like a cliche, but being the best you can be might just be the most important thing you can do. Just because you’ve overcome your problems once before, doesn’t mean they won’t come back. You should be doing all the things that you know contributes to your mental well-being. Once you’re in a good place, you’ll be able to push on and do amazing things. When others see what you’re doing, they’ll be inspired to know that suffering from a mental condition doesn’t mean you can’t do big things in life.
Conclusion
The majority of life is about our attitude to our setbacks, not the setbacks themselves. If you’ve overcome your problems, use your experiences to help others. You never know just how valuable your words of wisdom might be to a person in the middle of a mental health episode.
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