If you’re worried about a young person

14th January, 2022    |    By  headspace    |     597

Family members can play an integral part of a young person’s circle of care. If you’re supporting a young person going through a tough time with their mental health, headspace is also here to help support you through these challenges and transitions.


Also check the related topics:  

Supporting a friend with a mental illness

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If you’re worried about a young person

Thinking about having conversations with her, I know one of my things was I’d go for a walk and kind of plan out a scenario in my head of how I was going to do this. It never goes the way that you want it to.

I think the one time when I broke through, I just went into her room and said, “I want to talk to you, and I don’t care.” It broke the ice. She was like, “I’m not going to talk to you.” And I said, “Yeah, I think that you will.”

When she calmed down and realized I wasn’t going anywhere, I just said, “Do you want to have a chat about what’s going on? Why are we feeling like this?” She could understand that I was coming from a place of good.

We mucked around a bit, and then when I got down to the heavy stuff, it was like, “Okay, I’m comfortable.” She didn’t open up fully the first time—it sort of came out. Conversations in the car work really well for us because we’re not looking at each other, so you can say the heavier things.

If you really feel strongly that something’s not right, that there’s something going on, you need to listen to your gut and go with that. Sometimes, conversations don’t go the way you think they will. They can go pear-shaped, and you might come away thinking, “That didn’t go as well as I would have liked.”

Don’t be afraid to revisit the conversation. In fact, you really need to. Be honest with your young person and say, “Look, I don’t feel like that went very well. Can we try again?”

If one of your family members is going through something dramatic, recognizing that mental health is real is important. If you just take one step outside that stigma, ask, and accept help, you can move forward. You’ll feel more comfortable within your skin, understand yourself better, and go really far. So, get help.

I think it’s really important to know that you’re not going to have all the answers and you’re not going to be able to provide all of that support. You can visit the Headspace website, where you’ll be directed to all sorts of resources that you can read at that very time.

Sometimes, your young person might be happy to speak to you but not ready to engage with external support. It’s good for you to familiarize yourself with what’s available so you can discuss it with them or just let them know it’s there.

What you might find is that, in their own time, they’ll look into it and start to work it out in their own mind. They may not be ready to do it right then, but they might be ready the next time you bring it up. It’s important to keep revisiting that conversation.

Video by headspace