The Role Of Family In Fighting Mental Illnesses

A supportive family not only helps keep track of a patient’s progress, but it can also speed up the recovery process.

Back in the day, mental illnesses were mainly treated with institutionalized care. But nowadays, mental health professionals are shifting to outpatient care since family involvement in treatment has shown a lot of promise in some instances.

When fighting a mental illness like depression or anxiety, knowing that you have people who care can make a big difference in how you view your own mental health. It also makes it easier to find acceptance within yourself and move toward treatment options with your family’s support.

Family Support And Mental Health Go Hand In Hand

Family support and mental health are often inexplicably linked. In fact, we’d say they’re directly related in a way. Lack of family support in life can often lead to poor mental health. And at the same time, support and love from the family can promote better mental health in people.

People with mental illnesses can often trace their illness back to problems with their family or loved ones. But most recent cases show that people with family support can get better faster in case they’re suffering from a mental illness. Moreover, as people get better, they may also start rebuilding and mending old relationships that were strained due to the illness.

A Well-Informed Family Offers Better Support

Families can play a very integral role in helping someone fight their mental illness, but they can only do so if they’re well-informed about it.

If they know exactly what a family member is going through, they can be more understanding and offer the right kind of support.

Unawareness, though, can have the opposite effect. If family members are not fully educated about what a loved one is going through exactly, they might end up being frustrated with them, which could end up triggering their condition further.

This is why it’s very crucial for the family to be on the same page as the patient and their mental health experts.

Family Can Keep Track Of The Patient’s Progress

In a lot of mental health illnesses, a patient can suffer from a relapse. This essentially means that they can fall back into their old ways despite undergoing treatment. This can make their treatment process much more complex in the longer run.

However, if family members are well-aware of the mental health issues and treatments, they can actively supervise the patient. They can keep track of their progress and offer encouragement and support when needed.

This also gives the patient a sense of security and warmth, knowing that they’re not in it alone.

If you’d like to learn more about a family or family members’ roles in mental health illnesses and their treatment, we suggest you read A Notebook of Love by Luis Trivino. He’s a war veteran who’s had his fair share of struggles with mental health. His wife, too, suffers from PTSD and a personality disorder. And these mental health problems have had a significant impact on their married life.

But they’re still figuring things out, and their story has a lot of lessons for others as well.

Download the book and see if you can find some answers too.