How to Help a Friend

dragonfly Learn how to help. This site is here for people living with mental illness—and their friends. You'll find tools to help in the recovery process, and you can also learn about the different kinds of mental illnesses, read real-life stories about support and recovery, and interact with the video to see how friends can make all the difference.

Learn About Mental Illness

Mental health problems can affect anyone at any time. That's why everybody needs to understand how mental illnesses can affect individuals, families, and communities. It's also why we all need to learn how we can support our friends who are living with a mental illness. Caring friends can make a real difference. Are you ready to be a real friend?

How to Help

If somebody told you he had diabetes, how would you react? If you're like most people, you'd express sympathy and concern, offer your support and reassurance, and feel confident that your friend's condition would improve with treatment. Now, if that same friend told you he had a mental illness, what would you do?

Too many people respond negatively when confronted with a friend's mental illness, and this only fuels the stigma surrounding the diagnosis. The reality is, mental illness is no different from physical illness. Conditions like depression, schizophrenia, and anxiety disorders affect a person's body. The emotional and psychological aspects of mental illness make supportive friends and family even more important to a person's recovery.

So, now you know you can help just by being there and offering your reassurance, companionship, emotional strength, and acceptance. You can make a difference just by understanding and helping your friend throughout the course of his or her illness and beyond.

Online Resources