Because my last article about mental illness had such positive feedback and I received overwhelming support, I decided to write another. If someone you know comes to you saying they're struggling with a mental illness, it can be hard to find the write thing to say to show them you care, so here are a few suggestions.

"How are you?" It's something literally so simple to ask someone, and deep down that person is probably praying someone asks how they're doing so they can just have a person who's willing to listen to them.

"What can I do to help?" Most likely the person dealing with the mental illness will either say they just want you to listen to them, or simply talk to them to take their mind off of the issue. You don't have to do some grand gesture, like buy them ice cream and a movie, all you need is to hold a normal conversation with them. (Although ice cream would be much appreciated.)

"You're not a burden." I can't stress the importance of this enough!!! I am almost 100 percent positive that the person dealing with their mental illness thinks this of themselves because of how much they need someone, and they probably won't want to start a conversation with you because they feel like they're annoying you, so please just make it clear to them that they are not an inconvenience.

"You're important." This may seem like it's something everyone should know, but let me tell you when you're dealing with a mental illness, you start to feel like you're nothing. You feel like no one cares about what happens to you, so just by reaching out and saying this it could really change a persons self view. Just keep reassuring them of their importance.

"I'll help you through this." Once again, this just reassures them that someone genuinely cares about their well-being.

"I'll never give up on you." If you say this to someone, please mean it. I've had a lot of people say this to me, and then just leave me without an explanation. It's important to have someone willing to help you and not give up on you, so if you really care about someone this can go along way.

"I'm here whenever you need me." I get this a lot, and it truly does mean a lot when I hear this, but sometimes it's hard for people to reach out if there's a problem, so just occasionally check in on your friend, even if they haven't come to you with a problem. They're still probably dealing with a lot, they just don't know how to come to you about it.