Friends and family can be important influences to help someone get the mental health treatment and services they need by:
- Reaching out and letting them know you are available to help
- Helping them access mental health services
- Learning and sharing the facts about mental health, especially if you hear something that isn’t true
- Treating them with respect, just as you would anyone else
- Refusing to define them by their diagnosis or using labels such as “crazy”
The National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (known as NICHCY) lists six types of emotional disturbances:
- anxiety disorders;
- bipolar disorder;
- conduct disorders;
- eating disorders;
- obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD); and,
- psychotic disorders.
NICHCY notes that while these are common emotional disturbances, this list isn’t all-inclusive.
