A Comprehensive Guide to Assisting with a Mental Health Crisis

Over the course of three months, guest blogger Lucy Merriman put together an amazing 5-part series entitled, How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis. The series looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis, even if you yourself have little to no crisis training. All five parts are published in the “What Can I Do?” section …Read More

How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 5: Seeking Solutions

CN: mental health crisis’, mental health management; brief mention of a variety of mental health based issues and abuse. The fifth and final installment of Lucy Merriman’s guide to offering mental health support when you yourself are not a trained mental health worker, is possibly the most universally helpful of all the parts. It includes some extremely useful problem solving techniques, basic guidelines to finding the info you need to help you move forward, and …Read More

How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 4: Educate, Normalize, & Comfort

This week’s guest post is Part 4 in a five-part series that looks at how to fill the gaps in our current mental health care system on an individual basis. Lucy Merriman has been guiding us through information about mental health crisis hotlines, basic skills needed to offer support to a person in crisis, and in-depth information about how to guide someone to the other side of whatever they are going through. These posts contain …Read More

How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 3: The Process of Processing

This week’s guest post is Part 3 in a five-part series that looks at how to fill the gaps in our current mental health care system on an individual basis. It includes a lot of really valuable information about how to help someone work through an emotionally upsetting time. Whether your friend is in a full-blown crisis, or they’re just having a bad day, these tools are excellent for anyone who wants to be a …Read More

How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 2: Mindset, Limit Setting, and Safety Assessment

This week’s guest post is Part 2 in a series that looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis. Today’s post covers the preparation needed to skillfully offer support to a friend if you don’t have the resources to become a trained crisis worker but still want tools to help your friend when in a crisis. CN: discussion of …Read More

How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 1: Enlisting the Help of a Crisis Hotline

Today’s guest post is part 1 of a series that looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis. This piece is really the epitome of the category, “What Can I Do?” It gives us the tools we need to face problems far larger than we can control on our own. CN: in depth discussion of suicide and suicide ideation, …Read More