How to Get Someone Mental Help When They Refuse It?

How to Get Someone Mental Help When They Refuse It?

Do you know someone with a mental illness that needs help but refuses it? From your perspective, it makes perfect sense to get professional help when you suffer from a mental health disorder.

However, people with mental health problems go through anxiety, fear, shame, and confusion that usually prevents them from openly expressing feelings. So how can you get help for someone who refuses mental health treatment?

In this guide, we’ll discuss everything you’ll need to know about getting mental help for people who refuse and how you can get them to accept.

How to Get Someone Mental Help When They Refuse?

Multiple sources suggest that mental health illness is more common than you think. For example, according to a study by the World Health Organization (WHO), 1 in every 8 people (or 970 million people) was living with a mental disorder, as of 2019. And these mental disorders include:

• Anxiety disorders,
• Bipolar disorder,
• PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),
• Neurodevelopmental disorders,
• Schizophrenia,
• Disruptive behavior and dissocial disorders, etc.

Although mental illness is prevalent, most people don’t treat it with high priority because it may not seem like an immediate danger at first. Also, some people may even view anxiety disorders as a form of weakness, or bipolar disorders as simply irrational.

However, these mental disorders can easily throw anyone into a deep depression that can easily lead to suicide and other destructive behaviors. So even if someone with a mental illness refuses help, you’d still need to find a way to offer support.

Here are several steps you can take to get someone help even if they refuse mental health treatment:

Step 1: Approach

Approach the person and explain your concerns. When approaching a person with a mental illness, you shouldn’t sound judgemental or seem aggressive and over-pushy. Instead, approach the person and explain that you have a genuine concern about their health.

Step 2: Listen and validate

To properly understand the problem, you’d need to listen carefully and validate the person’s feelings to establish that you truly understand their problem. In essence, let them feel heard.

Step 3: Learn more about the problem

Ask them what solutions they think would work. Before you start suggesting solutions, you need to hear their solutions to understand how they approach their problem.

Next, analyze the solutions they propose to better understand their problem. Besides the mental disorder, a person can have problems with how they approach solutions.

Step 4: Give advice

Suggest solutions and have an honest conversation on why you think they might work. If you understand the problem well enough, you can offer helpful advice and explain the benefits.

Step 5: Recommend psychiatric help

Let them understand that they aren’t alone and that there are professionals who are trained to treat them. Share any history of mental health disorders you’ve had so you can better connect with them.

Step 6: Don’t force help unless it’s necessary

Finally, don’t attempt to force help on people as it can make them more resistant. But if the person engages in destructive behavior like violence or attempting suicide, then you should immediately seek help from mental health professionals.

Mental health experts from Midss recommend online therapy services like BetterHelp for anyone with mental health problems. And since BetterHelp is an online service, you can receive support from your comfort zone, which may be preferable for someone who initially refuses help.

Common Signs Your Loved Ones Are Suffering Mental Health Disorders

Before you can help someone with a mental illness, you’d need to know how to identify mental disorders. Here are some of the most common signs and symptoms of mental illness:

• Sadness and depression
• Extreme anxiety or paranoia
• Problems dealing with stress
• Extreme mood swing
• Withdrawal from family members and friends, and problems socializing with others
• Violent behaviors or excessive anger
• Significantly low energy and prolonged tiredness
• Problems with sleeping
• Delusions or hallucinations
• Problem with drug and alcohol usage
• Suicidal thinking

So if you have a friend, family member, or anyone showing signs of a mental disorder, you should seek treatment as soon as possible to avoid adverse effects.

Ways To Deal With Mental Health Disorders Without Medication

Before medical help arrives, you can help by proposing ways to deal with anxiety without medication at home, which include:

Regular exercise

Exercise helps to release hormones like endorphins and serotonin, which help you feel better, reduce stress, and boost your mood. Additionally, regular exercise can help you to maintain a healthy life and fight off disease.

Socializing with people and close friends

Staying around friends and socializing with people can help someone with mental illness feel less alone. Also, the people around you can help to identify changing patterns in your behavior, and also offer advice that can help.

Join a support group

A support group run by trained peers offers emotional support, education, experiences, and practical activities to do. Support groups also help you feel less alone as you can find other people with similar mental disorders.

Get adequate sleep

Lack of sleep can significantly increase your stress levels and make it harder to deal with a mental disorder. Also, resting or sleeping can help you process the situation better. 

Stop taking caffeine

High doses of caffeine can affect the nervous system and induce anxiety, which makes it harder to deal with a mental disorder. Additionally, caffeine keeps you awake and affects your sleep, So anyone with a mental disorder should avoid caffeinated substances like coffee, soda, energy drinks, and dark chocolate.

Take online therapy

Online therapy is a great way to receive medical health support while you stay at home. And with online therapy, you get access to top-quality medical health professionals worldwide.

The Bottom Line

Don’t be surprised if someone with a mental illness refuses help. The person may not be aware of the illness, and may usually be confused, scared, or ashamed of the disorder.

But that doesn’t mean you should abandon the person. If you want to get someone psychiatric help even if they refuse, follow the steps we mentioned above. But if the person is reluctant and engaging in destructive behavior, then it’s best to call a medical professional immediately.