“Mental Illness: You Can Help,” For the Strength of Youth, Aug. 2021, 2–5.
Mental Illness: You Can Help
Chances are, you know someone who experiences a mental illness. Here, three people share what others did to help them through it.
Illustrations by Yukai Du
We’ve all had bad days—and some are really bad. Imagine feeling like your bad days are on repeat and no matter what you do, you can’t get rid of a “dark cloud” of bad feelings that surrounds you.
Well, managing a mental illness can feel like that. And according to one estimate, one in four people in the world are expected to experience a mental illness at some point in their lives.1
That means that you or someone you know may be experiencing one too.
Experiencing a mental illness doesn’t mean you are broken. Rather, mental illnesses should be viewed like other health conditions. And when someone is experiencing it, it can be very hard. In fact, a mental illness can feel isolating, which can prevent people from seeking help. This can lead to a lack of communication and connections, and ultimately a loss of relationships. And that just makes everything harder for those who are suffering and for friends and family who want to help.
Here are personal experiences with mental illness from three different people. They share what they did and what others did to help them through it. Though no two people’s experiences will be exactly the same, these stories may offer some inspiration and direction.
Mood Disorders (Depression/Bipolar)
How did you feel when you were going through it?
“I have varying levels of depression, and when I am really feeling down, I don’t want to do anything. Sometimes I just sit on the couch and watch TV, but I don’t really watch it—I just stare. Ultimately, I get a feeling that people don’t want to do anything with me, and I genuinely believe nobody should do anything with me when I am in that state. I just have zero motivation. I never thought I was depressed or that it affected me to the extent that it did until I got help.”
What helped you?
“Constant outreach helps. I find that it helps to have someone who is willing to listen. They don’t even necessarily need to understand what is being said, but it’s nice to have someone to validate my frustrations or thoughts.
“Trying to get myself out of one of my ‘gloomy’ moods had a lot to do with deciding to do so. I needed to decide whether I wanted to help myself or stay down. My medication helped, but it also helps to get out of the house and be around people—even going to the gym can help change my mood. The hardest part was realizing I had a condition and admitting it to someone else.”
Anxiety
How did you feel when you were going through it?
“Anxiety made me feel like my brain was going 100 miles per hour and like I couldn’t overcome anything. I felt very disorganized and like I couldn’t get a hold of my life and the tasks for the day. I felt very alone and like nobody knew what I was going through. The hardest part for me was the constant need to compare myself to others. I denied that I had anxiety for a long time until I took an anxiety test at the doctor’s office.”
What helped you?
“Genuine relationships helped me overcome my anxiety. When I started opening up to people, they listened and helped me understand my eternal potential. They took my mind off things that were overwhelming me but in the long run weren’t that important.
“I feel like everyone is different, but to help myself, I needed to get organized. The simple deed of planning my daily tasks helped me feel like I could tackle the day. I also prayed a lot. Heavenly Father helped me recognize that I needed to delete my social media for a time because I was comparing my life to everyone else’s lives, which in turn made me anxious. It helped a lot.”
Eating Disorders
How did you feel when you were going through it?
“For me, an eating disorder is as physical as it is mental. When I was in the middle of my eating disorder, food seemed to have lost its savor. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to eat, but I physically couldn’t get myself to eat. There was a constant lump in my throat that prevented me from indulging in anything.
“I felt alone and trapped, like nobody could possibly understand why I couldn’t eat an adequate amount of food—it was just me and my eating disorder. In the end, I realized that this was how I was coping with various things in my life. I felt the only thing I was able to control in my life was what I did (or in this case didn’t) put in my body.”
What helped you?
“I had a friend who must have been moved by the Spirit to talk to me. One day as we were chatting, she told me that she had noticed my peculiar eating habits—small bites, skipping meals, etc. Even though that conversation didn’t cause me at that moment to get the help I needed, it opened a door that allowed me to finally accept the fact that I had an eating disorder and needed to get help.
“I started exercising regularly and praying more intently, and I told my closest family members about my eating disorder. The exercise helped me clear my head, and the honest conversations I was having helped me address the underlying issues. It was a process, but I can finally say my favorite food is pizza again!”