The Rock & Roll Shrink Ep. 30 - Coping with Someone Else's Pathologies

Let’s talk tonight about Coping with Someone Else's Pathologies. We have given a lot of advice and resources for people with a wide variety of mental illnesses and other mental health pathologies and issues, but tonight let’s talk to those who are the friends, partners, family members, co workers or bosses, neighbors, and other connected, interested parties, with those who are coping with mental illness.

When someone is clearly no longer safe or sane, able to conduct themselves as an adult without legal or medical intervention, our choices are obvious and clear. Most of us who have control of our will and faculties do not want other people telling us what to do as if we are children, so we make an effort not to do unto others in the same way. Most of the time, this laissez-faire stance works quite well, but when dealing with someone struggling with mental illness, addictions, medical side effects, or other disruptive mental health issues that make it too difficult for those around them to ignore, it can be complicated and tricky to know the best course of action to take, for our own well-being as well as what is best for the person who is ill.

First, we’ll talk about what some of the issues can be when you are the outsider dealing with a person with mental illness. Second, we’ll cover some advice on common misconceptions and ineffective ways of coping, basically “what NOT to do.” And third, we will talk about some more useful and appropriate advice for outsiders trying to cope with being affected by a mentally ill person and their issues.