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It can feel frustrating to see a friend you love struggle with loving themselves.
While trying to help a friend who doesn’t seem to want it can feel like fighting an uphill battle, it can be worthwhile — if you know how to help. Here’s how to care for friends who don’t care for themselves.
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Be Persistent
If your friend is not caring for themselves, there’s a good chance they may not feel like they’re deserving of care. So, they may not be receptive to your attempts at helping them.
You cannot force your friend to reach out or take your advice, but you can remind them that you’re there are ready to listen whenever they’re ready. Even if your friend doesn’t respond, shoot them a quick text or message a few times a week to remind them that they have someone willing to help whenever they’re ready.
Learn to Listen
It can feel tempting to try to force your friend to get help or pick up healthier habits, but most of the time, forcing someone to do something will not lead to lasting results.
If you want to help your friend, you need to learn how to listen. Making yourself willing and available to talk when your friend needs it will help you better understand their struggles and help them realize that they are deserving of a happy and healthy life. You can suggest them share their emotions on sites like The Doe.
Do Some Research
From the outside, mental health issues, like addiction or depression, can seem pretty straightforward. But, if you’ve never personally dealt with one of these problems, you can’t fully understand how to help your friend.
While you can research their problem, the best way to care for your friend is by finding someone who already knows what to do. By looking into professional experts in your area, you can help your friend by finding a therapist for depression who might be able to help them get their life back on track.
If you think your friends may be struggling with substance abuse, read on here to learn more about the signs and what you can do to help.
Know When to Walk Away
Trying to help someone who doesn’t want it can feel like trying to shovel sand with a slotted spoon. So, before you get too deep, you need to make sure you’re taking care of yourself too.
Ask yourself whether your friend needs help or if you’re trying to push a lifestyle onto them. Consider talking to a professional yourself to make sure your priorities are straight and to ensure that in helping your friend, you aren’t harming yourself.
While it may not seem like it learning to set boundaries is also imperative to caring for a struggling friend. While you want to make yourself available to your friend 24/7, that’s not healthy for anyone.
Finally, there may come a time that helping your friend becomes too detrimental or even dangerous — and you’ll need to walk away.
Learning to Care for Friends in Trouble
Now that you know a bit more about care for friends who don’t seem to want your help, it’s time to start asking yourself a few difficult questions.
Are you looking for more advice on how to help a friend in need? We’re here to help. Check out the rest of our blog for more helpful articles today.
