At today’s group we looked at the different ways in which mental health can affect us. We looked at it from two different perspectives. Below are the group findings;
1.Someone who is struggling with poor mental health.
- I feel people don’t want to talk about problems especially ‘deep’ things
- I feel isolated
- There is a lack of understanding from others
- I have lost friends
- I socialise less
- Acceptance can be hard
- I feel irritable
- Being around like minded people helps me
- Once I felt better I gained a better understanding and now have more compassion for others and feel a better person because of my experience
2. People who are affected by someone else’s poor mental health e.g. loved on, carer
- My friend struggles to look after himself
- He can ‘snap’ at me
- I need support myself while caring for my friend
- Sometimes I feel helpless
- I feel so tired caring for my friend
- While I can give my friend some leeway due to his poor health I have to remember not to constantly accept bad behaviour.
In conclusion today was a ‘deep’ group but was very helpful for people to look at these issues.
Below are the group members thoughts on this:
