Read on Twitter
[THREAD] I want to talk about a few things that we shouldn’t tell people who are going through mental health issues because it can either make the situation worse or just not help at all. Sometimes, we hear about tough love and how good it can be, but it doesn’t help at all.
One of the first things we should avoid saying is commenting on weight (losing, gaining). Weight gain/loss happens a lot with mental health issues and is not something that is within our control. Furthermore, it can make the person feel more self conscious.
Saying things like: “you just need to get up”, “you spend all day in bed, of course you will be depressed”. These sentences are not encouraging at all and don’t provide anything of substance to the people who are impacted by depression. No one just wants to have zero energy.
It is not something we can control. Also saying things like “you look different or something looks off”. No sh*t. Of course, we will look different. Going through depression and anxiety for a while takes a toll on us and it may appear as though we are somehow “different”.
“It is all in your mind”. Never understood why we use that one. It is a mental illness so yes technically it is in our minds. It is also not something we can just will ourselves to change and it will happen just like you can’t will your broken arm to fix itself and then it will.
“You are not as fun as you used to be”. Trying going through 10 panic attacks a day and depression for months and we will see how fun you will be after that too. Mental illness is not fun and we don’t have to pretend like it doesn’t exist.
“Are you trying to get attention?” There are thousands of ways to get attention that don’t involve mental illness. I don’t know why anyone would use mental illness for attention. It impacts every aspect of our life. Most of us would rather have no attention and not mentally ill.
“We gave you everything you needed, why are you depressed/anxious?” It doesn’t matter what material things you gave. That’s not how it works. It is like saying to someone through a physical disease that their life is too good to be sick. How is that going to help in any way?
“When will this phase be over?” If we knew, it would be great for us first. It is not something we can control. These are just a few out of many that we tend to say to those whose mental health is suffering that are not helpful at all.
