Kaitlyn Bruneau (Mental Health First Aid)
Licensed clinical social worker Kaitlyn teaches essential mental health first aid and self-care strategies. The video emphasises supporting individuals in crisis while prioritising...
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How can you check in on your own needs when supporting someone else's mental health?
Secondly, when you are supporting someone else with their mental health, you should also be taking time to check in on your own needs. A healthy mindfulness practise can assist in helping you be more aware of your thoughts and feelings, as well as if you are experiencing any changes to your own emotional or self-care patterns. If you go through a particularly heavy conversation or experience with your loved one, it could help to schedule some relaxation, downtime, or self-care afterwards. Be sure to keep checking in with yourself and make sure that you are not taking on more than you can handle or risking burning yourself out. If supporting someone else starts to impact your functioning in any area of your life, it might be time to think about what you need and have a conversation about that boundary. A final way that you can best protect yourself and your mental health when supporting someone else through a crisis is to make sure that you are not their sole support. You can not always be available and may not have all of the tools that they need. You can suggest a family member or mutual friend they might be safe talking to or even helping them connect with a mental health provider, support group or online community. With this, it should be easier to give yourself permission to take a step back if and when you need to prioritise your own needs. If you are taking time to support a friend or family member through their own mental health challenges, you should be recognising your strength and compassion and empathy for others. It's not always easy to take on the weight of someone else's struggles and still be mindful of your own needs. While we talked through a few ways, you can ease the weight of supporting someone else, you should also make sure that you are checking in and being honest with yourself about what you can and cannot do for someone else. You cannot expect yourself to have a mental health professional level skills when you are acting in the capacity of a friend. Just do the best that you can and make sure that you keep checking in on how helping someone else may be impacting.
How should you approach assisting a stranger or acquaintance in a standalone crisis situation?
For the first way of assisting someone in crisis, when it is in a standalone situation, potentially with a stranger or acquaintance, you should always be mindful of your own safety needs. People in crisis might be experiencing overwhelming emotions, confusion, fear, or distress, and your approach can significantly influence the situation's outcome. If you do not feel like you could safely engage with someone who is in crisis, it's okay to utilise available resources such as by calling 9 1 1 or the 9 8 8 crisis hotline in the us. Depending on where you are located, you might also be able to contact your local mobile crisis team at any time of engaging with someone in crisis. If you no longer feel safe, it's okay to take a step back and prioritise your own safety. Since these types of interactions can be really intense and involve a lot of self-regulation and slow progress, it'll also be important to take time to reflect and process after the fact. After an interaction with someone in crisis, take some extra time for self-care, mental reflection and exploration of whether or not this is something that you feel that you could do again in the future.
What is the importance of self-care when helping someone in a mental health crisis?
There are two major ways that you may find yourself supporting others going through a mental health crisis. Regardless of what your role or expectations are, it's important to be checking in with your own mental health and safety needs. During that time, you may find yourself helping a stranger or acquaintance in crisis in a one-off situation, or you may find yourself providing ongoing support to a friend or loved one. First and foremost, check in with what you feel that you are and are not reasonably able to do for this other person. By setting reasonable expectations for yourself, you can hopefully mitigate any self-blame, guilt, or self-doubt. Any help that you can provide can be beneficial, and it's important when you can recognise that you are doing the best that you can.