If your friend is experiencing mental health problems, there are a lot of things - big and small - that you can do to help. These stories are about the good and bad ways that friends have responded to someone with a mental health problem. 

See me as a whole person, not just my eating disorder

Kat, February 17, 2020

A few weeks ago my best friend came to visit me and although she knows about my eating disorder, I was still worried about seeing her. We have a long-distance friendship and I hadn’t seen her for over a year - so naturally my anxiety started to kick in as I just wanted the day to go perfectly. 

I was worrying about everything, from what we were going to do, talk about, how long she would stay, what time she would arrive, would I get too tired, what if I can’t handle it…and most importantly I didn’t want things to dwell on my relapse. 

The stigma around mental health makes it harder to deal with

Ellie, January 13, 2020

Since the age of 12 I have struggled with my mental health. I became anorexic between 12 and 14, and then I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression at 17.

Despite days of feeling fine and genuinely happy with life and the world that’s out there, there is always that part of my head where my depression and anxiety make sure they have something to say.

Understanding BPD can end the fear and stigma around it

Punda, December 16, 2019

I’ve been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) this year and it affected me a lot. I’m in a friendship group where we talk a lot about mental health, so I know the basics about depression, ADHD, PTSD etc...but I almost never heard a thing about BPD.

My first thought about my diagnosis was fear. People with BPD were just “crazy people” to me.

Ask twice and let them know you're there to listen

Bernice, October 21, 2019

Someone who has shown me they were in my corner was my friend Sandra who I first met at work; we became friends after recognising our similar tastes in books, and penchant for morning coffee.

We'd eventually come to realise we had more in common than initially thought.

I don't know how to explain it fully but when I talked to her, about anything and everything I felt that sense of "this is a safe space, this person gets me".

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