 We'll be sharing five tips for helping someone with a mental illness based on an article from issue two of our magazine One of the biggest factors in whether those who are mentally ill will open up to a person about their feelings is how that person reacts It can be frustrating when someone in our life is ill And we don't like seeing our loved ones in pain and often want to help These five tips should help assure that your loved one and open up more to you Tip number one Don't allow your negative emotions to be visible Weger said it can be frustrating trying to help someone who's ill You might feel anger, pity, sadness or even helplessness when trying to help It's best not to show these emotions Don't sigh when your loved one responds in a way you don't like and don't talk to them as if they are stupid Keep in mind if they could act healthy they would and if you show a negative reaction to your loved ones They are much more likely to hide their feelings On to tip two Do show them that you still care This one may seem obvious, but often mental illness makes a person feel broken or somehow less than Therefore your loved ones should be reminded that you care greatly about them Without this reinsurance, they may feel as if no one cares Tip three and this one is an important one Don't tell or remind them that it could be worse. This is extremely unhelpful The idea that knowing that some people are worse off will feel better is simply not true In fact, it might make your loved one feel even worse Firstly all that matters to your loved one right now is that they feel bad So bringing up others doesn't really factor in to how they feel Secondly this reminder may cause guilt within your loved one They may feel guilty for talking about the illness or even worse feel guilty for being ill at all This means that your loved one is less likely to open up about their illness to you or to anyone else in the future Tip four Don't try to relate how they feel to your own experiences. That is unless you have the same illness, of course It can be tempting to try and relate how they feel to things you've been through But telling someone who has bipolar that you understand because you have mood swings or your friend with anxiety That you understand because you get anxious before exams isn't helpful Mental illnesses are more extreme than other behavior and feelings and it can often feel invalidating to the person to hear these things Also doing this tends to focus the conversation back on you when it is the other person who needs support So it's best to listen rather than try to offer up your own stories And finally tip five Do try and research their illness The internet is a wonderful tool that allows you to research whatever illness your loved one has You can research symptoms helpful tips and read others experiences This all means that you can support your loved one in the best way possible Something good to research is particular warning signs and how best to deal with them Knowing for example that someone's first sign of anxiety can be them feeling very hot Is good for spotting when a possible anxiety attack is about to rear its head That's it for our tips. We hope that you now feel better equipped to help support someone with mental illness Remember it's always good for someone with mental illness to seek medical attention and help If you liked this video, please like share and subscribe Also, if you'd like more from our magazines, they are on sale at www.cyte2go.shop You can also check out our patreon at patreon.com forward slash site to go magazine