More often than not, those who suffer from mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression, have great difficulties in communicating their needs clearly due to the effects of their illness. Everyone, not only those who are suffering from a mental illness need to communicate effectively. The maintenance of fulfilling relationships and ones self awareness are dictated by the ability for an individual to communicate effectively. It is important for all to possess interpersonal skills, but is even more pronounced for people recovering from a mental illness. Whether we mean it or not, communication is relayed through actions, tone of voice, body language, facial expressions as well as the spoken word. The symptoms of stress, frustration and anxiety can be greatly reduced by learning new, more effective skills to more thoroughly and adequately express feelings and thoughts. Once again, evidence based programs for assisting sufferers of mental illnesses to communicate more effectively are now available. If you suffer from a mental illness and experience difficulties in communicating, talk to your doctor immediately. She or he will be able to refer you to such programs which will be able to help you with self awareness, negotiation skills, dealing with criticism, listening skills, relationships, managing conflict and the negative impact that mental illnesses have on communicating effectively. These types of programs are usually based on CBT or cognitive behavioural therapy models. In brief, the cognitive model says that the way that you think affects the way that you feel. Therefore, if you are able to change and control the way that you think, you should be able to change and improve the way that you feel. Evidence has found that cognitive therapy can be a very effective way to help treat very negative emotions such as depression and anxiety. My very best wishes to you in your efforts to improve your quality of life.
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