Perhaps you'd think, as I initially did, that if a friend of yours started to suffer with one of these problems that you would recognize it straight away. But from personal experience I can tell you that this isn't always the case. Sometimes these problems don't show themselves on the outside at all. In hindsight maybe you will pick up on small things that do point towards what was going through their mind, but they are hard to spot at the time. As someone who has known people going through these issues I know it's difficult to know how to react, what to say, what to do. It doesn't mean you don't care or don't want to understand or help. I think it has to be recognized that generally mental health is a difficult topic for everyone. If people can gain better understanding of conditions such as depression they will then be able to help in some way, awareness isn't enough by itself. Being on the outside can be hard. In a way it can be like trying to do a maths problem without any basic knowledge of maths - it doesn't make any sense if you don't have context or understand the basic concepts. Obviously people with these issues need support and have a challenging time: I just wanted to highlight the difficulties from an outsiders perspective. Communicating and gaining some understanding is, in my opinion, the way forward when it comes to helping people facing mental health problems.
I've linked a couple of websites that are particularly helpful regarding mental health:
Mind: http://www.mind.org.uk/
I hope anyone who is experiencing mental health problems seeks help and support. Talking about it is one of the ways in which you can help those around you start to understand and hopefully help you in the long run. The stigma around mental health needs to be broken down through small actions and people sharing their stories because it won't happen by itself.
Laura.
