Mental health: how to support your friends

So in my everyday life, I talk a bit about mental health and I seem to be the person people come to once they've discovered they have anxiety or any mental health. I don't know whether this is because I'm a good listener and a caring person or its because I went through my own mental health journey. I mean it's questionable because my astrology sign is a cancer.

Its 2020 and I'm so happy that we are talking about mental health so much. To feel like it’s not strange to be scared of certain situations or get looked when I have a panic attack. Well, maybe I still get looks every now and then from people who have never seen it before but that is fun because when they ask what wrong and you start to explain they want to know more. This actually happened to me once in a Costco, where a lady was so scared for me because I was actually about to faint from a panic attack that she stayed there to see what was going on. Once I had gained the intelligence needed to actually speak and not do little weird points to my mum for water I actually explained what happens to me when I am having a panic attack. It felt lovely to have someone so interested in what I was talking about and wanting to learn more about the subject of mental health.

I think when you're open about these sort of things with people its interesting to see how people react to your journey, everyone's is different and sadly none of us will ever fully get rid of it, it will only just die down for a bit and spark up with the little devil inside us wants to have fun.

I always describe my anxiety now as something that has helped me grow as a person, as it has made me into a much stronger and thicker-skinned person then I was before. From the way I was back then to the way I am now a lot has changed, as now I can actually not feel scared about going into a club or going into a big room of people (lectures would have been very hard). Even though it was hard the facilities we have here in the UK are amazing and I will always say that (they just need to cut down the waiting time cheers).

I wanted to write a few tips down here at the end to help if you have a friend who’s going through a mental health condition or if you're going through it yourself?

-seek help from the NHS (talking mental health) they allow you to go at the pace you want and help you understand what's going on

-don't think you're ever alone (people are always there to help such as @mindcharity or @youngmindsuk and even myself

-use music (I found that music would always calm me down as I could listen to a tempo and use it as the rhythm of my breathing, I would recommend John Mayer Theory of Everything album for this)

-never leave someone alone if they are having a rough day or panic attack (doing this can cause a person to feel more scared especially if they aren't used to this, listen to their needs and a hug is always a good option)