Having a mental illness can be a challenge that disrupts even the smallest details of daily life. For those who have a loved one coping with a mental illness, the journey can be even more difficult, full of worries and doubts. In this article, we will share valuable advice from our professionals at Sisters Hospitallers International, who have been providing hospital support and professional help to people suffering from mental illness and their families for almost 143 years, collected by the Aita Menni centre:

‘It allows people with mental illness to express their own views, rather than asking their family members’ – Lydia Fosu, Senior Mental Health Nurse at Sisters Hospitallers in Foso, Ghana.

‘Think that people with mental illness have a problem, they are not a problem’ – Giampaolo Perna, director of the Clinical Neuroscience department of Sisters Hospitallers in Albese, Italy.

‘Offer your support and understanding to people with mental illness, focus on their possibilities’ – Cellan, social worker of the Sisters Hospitallers in Cebu, Philippines.

‘If you think about it in a healthy way, if you remove the stigma, equality appears. Stigma makes the equal different’ – Daniel Gutiérrez Jordán, director of the Psychosocial Rehabilitation Centre of the Sisters Hospitallers in Cantabria, Spain.

‘Encourage the use of technology and communication, to reduce the digital divide and promote equity’ – Oscar Javier Ribero Salazar, psychiatrist and scientific director of Hermanas Hospitalarias in Bogotá, Colombia.

‘Don’t label people with mental illness relapses as: people with no hope of recovery, this attitude of mistrust is detrimental to their evolution’ – Massimo Marconi, psychiatrist at Sisters Hospitallers in Acoli Piceno, Italy.

‘Help people with mental illness to develop skills to live their own life’ – Jolsna Raj, nurse at Sisters Hospitallers in Kerala, India.

‘Talk about mental illness to know about it. Information and knowledge normalise situations’ – Laura Zorraquino, Nursing Supervisor, Sisters Hospitallers in Pamplona, Spain.

‘It helps to remove the social stigma that exists in your environment, talk about the capabilities that people with mental illness possess’ – Athira V Mathew, social worker at Sisters Hospitallers in Kerala, India.

‘It is human to feel sad, tired… ask for help. Being strong means asking for help whenever you need it’ – Melissa Panichi, psychologist at Sisters Hospitallers in Acoli Piceno, Italy.

‘Respect and consideration for others, and for oneself, are fundamental to building adequate Mental Health’ – Germán Posada, psychiatrist at Sisters Hospitallers in Bogotá, Colombia.

‘If you have a family member with mental illness, contribute to their integration, don’t exclude them’ – Athira V Mathew, social worker of Sisters Hospitallers in Kerala, India.

‘To every mentally ill person you meet, write down on a piece of paper a strength they have that you don’t have, and give it to them’ – Giampaolo Perna, Director of the Neuroscience Department of the Sisters Hospitallers in Albese, Italy.

‘Bring the new generations closer to the reality of Mental Health, because they are the key to change’. – Gloria Gonzalez, supervisor of the Mental Health Area of Sisters Hospitallers in Palencia, Spain.

‘Fighting depression does not mean telling the person “get up”, it means knowing how to listen and understanding how to deal with their suffering’ – Walter Roberto, psychiatrist at Sisters Hospitallers in Acoli Piceno, Italy.

‘The recovery of people with mental illness is sometimes a slow process. Don’t lose patience’ – Jolsna Raj, nurse at Sisters Hospitallers in Kerala, India.

Remember that professional care is essential to improve the quality of life of people with mental illness – ask for help if you need it! At Sisters Hospitallers we have 88 specialised social and health care centres that can help you.