Have you been there for you?

 

This morning, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and I found this interesting ad.

 

Of course, I got curious and clicked on it and found another video.

 

 

I got even more curious, so I went to BeThere.org.

It turns out that it is a resource website created by the folks at Jack.org. They provide plenty of useful information to help us learn how to talk to someone struggling with their mental health.

What’s amazing about BeThere is that they have what they call “The Golden Rules”. These are 5 rules in supporting someone struggling with their mental health:

  1. Say What you See – Stick to the facts. Don’t judge or make assumptions.

    e.g., “You haven’t been coming to online class the past few days. Is everything ok?”

  2. Show You Care – Actions speak louder than words.

    i.e., Don’t rush the conversation.

  3. Hear Them Out – You’ve opened up a conversation, now let them speak.

    i.e., Actively listen.

  4. Know Your Role – You’re not their therapist or doctor. You’re only there to listen.

    i.e., Don’t fix or preach.

  5. Connect to Help – Help them access professional and community resources and services. But don’t force them to.

    e.g., “It sounds like you’ve been struggling; have you considered talking to our school counsellor?”

But how can you be sure that you’re actually helping, right?

 

What BeThere says is that these rules cannot tell you exactly what to do.

Every person and situation are different. They’re a guide rather than the end-all-be-all.

There is no set formula to this thing, you don’t have to fix things or have it all figured out.

Just be there.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who thinks that life is quite difficult.

Being a student is difficult, maintaining relationships is difficult, adulting is difficult, dealing with difficult people is difficult… you get it.

On top of that, COVID-19 has made it even more challenging to do all these things

But what’s even more challenging… is checking on ourselves.

It might be easy for some, but many others put their mental health as their last priority. I know this because I’m part of that demographic, unfortunately.

We can apply these Golden Rules to our own lives. If you think of yourself as someone else, you’ll probably want to check in on them even just for a bit.

Can you spare 10 minutes to be there for you?

(All images 📸 : @jackdotorg/Instagram & Twitter)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *