How to support your loved one with Family issues

Hello everyone, today we are collaborating with Family & Caregivers support community to give some valuable inputs on how one can support their loved one with family issues.

We can see how people are different yet bound by love, affection and emotional relations in a family. However sometimes due to different perspectives , self-thinking ability and due to many other reasons one faces conflicts in a family. Minor conflicts are natural in a family. At times these conflicts becomes a severe issue when one of the family members is dealing with mental health issues or any other issues.

☆ Types of family problems:
A few family issues one can observe in a family are separation, divorce, an alcoholic or drug addicted parent, an abused parent, an abusive parent, Parents who nag or criticize their children, Parents who are overprotective, conflicts and constant arguments between parents, A parent's remarriage, siblings issues, grief and loss etc.

☆ Effects of family issues:

Each member in a family can be affected by family issues in different ways, some dealing with family stress may be prone to anxiety, depression, severe depression, loneliness etc.

In case of children one can observe severe issues of loneliness, depressions and poor performance in academics. Children are effected the most psychologically due to family stress.

☆ How to support your loved one with Family issues :

1. Showing trust: It is really good that we want to support our friend cope up with the family problem they are going through because we care for them.
But the real problem sometimes is that they are hesitant to open up about their issues.
So we can only give them moral support,tell them and reassure them that we are always there for them no matter what and have their back in all the situations.

2. Listening to them is the best way: We can listen to them and show them we care just by being there. Our very presence can be a comfort to a friend. Sometimes keeping someone company while they go through their trials is a gift in itself.

3. Expanding our friends perspective: If our friend or loved one seems to be afflicted with tunnel vision, we can help them by expanding their perspective. We could say, There could be another way to look at this. What about…? we could also expand perspective by pointing out the consequences of their actions to their future self.

Validating our friends feelings in the situation: If we honestly think our friend is right, we can say so: You have every right to feel hurt (angry, suspicious, sad).

If they really want to get a feedback from us (some friends expect a feedback from us) we can always give our feedback and tell them what we think. Overall inputs to cheer them up is always a positive thing to do.

What we cant do :

Trying to be pushy and force them to tell us things when they do not want to: It only causes uncomfort and a feeling miserableness. We always should admit the real situation and show patience because things can get better with time and we can eventually offer our space to support to them.

A few questions for you:

1. Have you ever seen a loved one struggling with family issues?

2. If yes, how did you support them through it?

3. If you have gone through family issues, how exactly did you deal with them?

P.S: We would love to know what you think and any feedback to keep the discussion going on is most welcomed

Special Thanks to @AveryLove to bring this new ‘how to support series

☆ To join Family & Caregiver Support Community please click here ☆