Who's on your team?
As I continue to receive stories from Mental Health First Aiders I have been looking for the threads in the stories that lead to wellness for a person living with mental illness. One of the first things that shines through most of the stories is the help and support of others as a role in recovery and continuing wellness.
So the question occurred to me….who is on my team? Who are the people that I know I can rely on to be there for me? I am fortunate to have a fairly long list of people but when I had my first episode of depression it was a different story. I had already isolated myself from most of my family as the depression took hold and I did not believe in my friends.
What could have helped at that time? Perhaps a future plan that I could have made with my most trusted family members and friends. Something solid, written down that I could read and remind myself that there were people on my team. An agreement that if they noticed I was becoming depressed they could tell me. What I would want them to do and what I wouldn't want them to do.
Not as formal as an Advance Directive but an agreement between me and my team of supporters. Let us know if you talk to your team about an agreement and how it went. Stories of real situations help others so much.
Keep the stories coming and remember, mental health is everyone's business.
