Support is a word you constantly hear in the mental health world. You have probably often been told to make sure you have a strong support system in your life, especially when you are going through difficult times in your life or your treatment and recovery. While this advice can be helpful, it does not always define what support means to each individual.

What Is Mental Health Support?

Is “support” asking someone to help with your workload on a project, or is it more about seeking advice from a mental health professional? As people grow and have new life experiences, their definition of support can go from a shoulder to cry on to having someone to listen to them. These types of support can come from family, friends, colleagues, or even a partner.

Receiving support can help lift you during the most difficult of times. If you are someone who is depressed or suicidal, good support can completely change your life. Even in less challenging times, support can help you through your daily routines. If it weren’t for support systems, most people would be entirely different than they are today.

Support means something different for each person who deals with a mental health condition, and one of the most important aspects of asking for support is defining what that means for you. Once you have defined specifically what you need, you must find a way to seek it out.

Defining Support for You

Having a mental health condition can often lead to the feeling of loneliness and misunderstanding. Support can help overcome these feelings and make it possible to see that intrusive and unwanted thoughts are often not true. Mental illness will often distort what you’re thinking, but support can help bring you back to reality.

Accepting support, or even understanding the kind of support you need, can be easier said than done. Even if you have always had the support of your family, learning to recognize that can take some time. The help of many counselors and mental health professionals can change your life for the better. Learning to accept the support of professionals may not come naturally, either, but it’s worth it in the end. At first, it could feel like it is a sign of weakness to have to reach out for something you believe you should be able to handle on your own, but it’s actually a sign of strength.

Learning How to Accept Support From Others

Accepting help requires you to be vulnerable and give up control. Some people don’t like that. They may believe that accepting help makes them an inferior person or that they lack something and require someone else to fulfill what they are lacking.

The truth is, vulnerability isn’t something to be deemed as a weakness. Being vulnerable requires strength. It requires you to surrender to what is given. Sometimes, people put on a hard shell as a defensive mechanism, thinking it will protect them from getting hurt. The truth is, though, that their protective shells are blocking them from receiving love from others.

When you’re receiving support and love, you have no control over what you receive, whether it’s something you want or something you don’t. You don’t get to determine what you get, and that makes many people very uncomfortable.

This is where the true test of strength is. Almost everyone can do well when they have control over things, but in reality, we don’t have as much control over external events as we think (or want to believe). Receiving support is not only about you, it’s also about the people giving you the support.

Allowing Loved Ones to Express Their Support

Imagine a person with good intent and love is trying to give you something, and you reject their gifts. Consider how it makes them feel. Chances are, they will feel unappreciated, maybe even embarrassed. When you open yourself to receiving support, you give other people an opportunity to give it.

The people who are always fighting to be the ones to give sometimes have a hard time learning how to accept. They want to be the ones giving advice, but when it’s time for them to receive it, they turn down other people’s acts of kindness. You can’t always be the one giving. It feels good to give and be one that others depend on, but it takes two to give and receive. This is especially important if you are going through something that is bothering you, emotionally or mentally. Suffering in silence can make things like anxiety and depression worse.

Support from friends and loved ones can be an eye-opening experience for someone who is battling anxiety or depression. If you’re struggling with substance use of any kind and you’re normally the person that takes care of everyone, understand that it won’t hurt you to seek help. Not only should you seek the help you need, but it also helps to be open to it and allow yourself to be supported. Once you understand that and you have decided what support looks like for you, then accept it as it comes. When people come together and choose to help you, they are considered a support system. If you have accepted a support system, or you are still struggling, contact The Kimberly Center today at (855) 452-3683. We specialize in helping those who are struggling with sobriety and mental health. We offer plenty of plans that can work with your lifestyle and level of comfort.