Reasons to Share Your Mental Health Story
Have you ever noticed that simply discovering you share a difficulty with someone else can be just as comforting as any advice they might give? As is the case for other age groups, teen mental health stories often have much in common. This is excellent for helping adolescents understand that they’re not alone as they cope with adversity.
If you’re a young person, teen parent, or family member who has successfully navigated (or is still navigating) a mental health challenge, sharing your experiences can have far-reaching positive impacts on others—but also on you. Here’s why you should share your story.
The Benefits to Teens and Their Families
Sharing your mental health journey can make a world of difference in the lives of adolescents and their families:
- Reduce stigma. The more open teens are about needing and seeking out psychological support, the more they will realize that everyone has mental health struggles from time to time. This will ultimately reduce counterproductive shame, blame, and stigma.
- Validate their experiences. Sharing your story can help countless other young people realize they’re not alone and that their feelings are legitimate. For teens especially, who are constantly under social scrutiny and pressure, this can mean the difference between suffering in silence and getting help.
- Offer useful information that can make a difference. Relating your experiences with specific mental healthcare providers, types of providers and therapies, apps, habits, and other resources can provide solutions (and pitfalls to avoid) for teens who are unsure where to turn.
- Encourage teens to reach out for help or help others. Your past bravery in seeking out psychological help can embolden others to do so as well. The beauty of this benefit is that the exact nature of the mental health problem doesn’t matter; you can encourage anyone who is struggling to seek the right resources for them.
The Benefits to You
Here’s how you’ll benefit from opening up about your mental health experiences:
- Process your journey in healthy ways. Storytelling can be cathartic. Relating your narrative is also a healthy way of making sense of what you’ve been through and moving forward.
- Be proud of how far you’ve come. As a society, it’s not often that we reward ourselves or each other for intangible accomplishments, like successfully coping with psychological turmoil. Telling your story can help you give yourself credit for all the hard work you’ve put in.
- Get the gratification of helping others. Helping other people is truly great for your mental and physical health. It has been proven to release feel-good endorphins, reduce stress, strengthen your immune system, enhance your sense of purpose, and even ward off chronic diseases.
Share Your Story With ReGroup Foundation
ReGroup Foundation is a non-profit that helps pre-teens, teens, and their families anonymously share and benefit from mental health success stories. Too often, the best resources and practices in teen mental health care remain under the radar. We want all families to benefit from the triumphs of those who have been there, done that. We make this possible by collecting family reviews of local mental health caregivers and facilities as well as their personal strategies for helping teens recover from wellness challenges.
In only 15 minutes, you can begin making a world of difference in the lives of other teens and their families—just by anonymously sharing your successes. Register today and start sharing your reviews and mental health insights!