Building Positive Relationships for Better Mental Well-Being
A guide to support you in creating stronger, healthier relationships, beginning with the one you have with yourself.
- English
- Македонски
- Shqip
The way we feel is deeply influenced by our friendships and relationships—they have a powerful impact on our mental well-being. That’s why nurturing positive connections with others - and with ourselves - is so important.
This guide is here to support you in creating stronger, healthier relationships, beginning with the one you have with yourself.
💖 Be Kind Inside
The way we talk to ourselves is very important. Sometimes our inner voice 💭 can be kind and supportive and other times it can be harsh or judgmental.
How we talk to ourselves can be affected by what other people say to us 👈🏻 or what we see in the world and compare ourselves to. This might be about the way we look, what possessions we have or don’t have, or what we do or don’t do.
We all judge ourselves without even knowing it and it can have a real impact on how we feel and behave.
Try this:
- Notice when your inner voice is being critical.
- Ask yourself: “Would I say this to a friend?”
- Replace harsh thoughts with kind ones.
When we’ve got an inner voice saying judgmental things to us, it can be hard to feel good about ourselves. So next time you catch your inner voice being harsh, remember to stand up for yourself in the same way you would for your friend 💪🏽.
Challenging your inner voice 🛑 might seem unusual or awkward at first. But the more we practice it, the more normal it becomes.
Example:
- “I’m so bad at math.” → “I’ve struggled with math, but I’m working on it.”
- “I’ll never be good enough.” → “I’m learning and growing every day.”
🌟 Discover Your Strengths
While we often admire the strengths in others, sometimes we overlook the strengths we have in ourselves.
Think of 3 things that you consider to be personal strengths. Remember, everyone is good at something, and everyone adds value to the world 🌏.
If you have a hard time coming up with personal strengths, here are a few examples to get you started.
- Maybe you really enjoy writing or painting 🎨, so one of your strengths would be creativity.
- Maybe you are quick to try out new things, so one of your strengths would be that you’re adventurous ✨.
You can make a list on your phone of your personal strengths and keep adding more from time to time. The more you do so, the more conscious 💡 and aware of your own strengths you will be.
🧠 Dealing with difficult relationships
We all experience many kinds of relationships in our lives 💜🤍💛, for example with our friends, our family and siblings, or our teachers, to name a few. Relationships are all around us and are important for making us feel supported, cared for, and understood 🤗
However, there are also differences between people or difficult situations and stresses that can sometimes lead to disagreements 😓 or a sense of unbalance in the relationship.
🗣️ Communication Styles Matter
We can’t always control the way others behave, but we can develop skills that will help us better manage our relationships. The way we communicate and act are two of these skills!
There are three main communication styles:
- Assertive: clearly saying what we feel and want in an honest, respectful way.
- Passive: not saying or being unclear about what we feel and want.
- Aggressive: saying what we feel and demanding what we want in an unkind or disrespectful way
These different communication styles can be observed through the 💬 words we use, 🗣️ our tone of voice, 🙂 our facial expressions, and 🙋 our body language.
Here are some examples of these communication styles:
Someone assertive might say what they feel and want in a respectful way, use eye contact 👁️, and give the other person a chance to say what they feel and want without interrupting them.
Someone passive might not saying anything, keep looking down, let the other person get their way, and allow others to be disrespectful or hurt them.
Someone aggressive might say unkind words, interrupt frequently, yell or raise their voice, criticize, blame and even threaten or physically hurt others
Assertive communication is useful because it respectfully lets the other person know what you think, feel, and need while also giving them a chance to do the same. This allows for us to strengthen our connection with the other person 👐. Communicating assertively is a skill that may not come naturally but can be learned and practiced.
Assertive communication can make a big difference, but even then, some relationships can be tricky.
🧭 When Relationships Get Tough
Many people experience disagreements or unhappiness in their relationships. But remember ⚠️⚠️, disagreement and difference are not the same thing as being bullied or harmed.
If you are ever feeling unsafe or hurt in a relationship, try reaching out to a trusted friend or adult for support 🤚. Asking for help isn’t always easy but it is a sign of courage and a way to take care of yourself.
🤗 Being a good friend
The good things you look for in a friend are also things you can try to be better at as a friend.
✅ Here are some ideas that help build healthy connections:
- Listening and talking to one another.
- Asking someone to help if you are unable to talk to one another calmly.
- Taking responsibility for your own actions and apologizing when you have done something wrong.
- Being honest with the person about what you need and want.
- Showing you respect and accept someone for who they are.
- Showing gratitude and expressing appreciation for others.
⛔ There are also things that might weaken our connections with others:
- Ignoring or avoiding each other
- Doing something that physically hurts others
- Blaming one another
- Focusing on who is right and who is wrong
- Name calling
These things might not be so helpful.
👂 The Power of Active Listening
Want to be a better friend? Start by really listening.
Tips for active listening:
- Don’t interrupt
- Put distractions aside
- Ask follow-up questions
- Make eye contact and nod
- Summarize what you heard: “It sounds like you were really stressed. Is that right?”
💬 Empathy: The Heart of Connection
Empathy means understanding what another person might be feeling and is an important part of our connections to others. This is something we can all practice and get better at.
Let’s use an example that a lot of people can relate to. Imagine a friend is struggling with a homework assignment and expresses anxiety about it. These are some ways that you can demonstrate empathy.
1. Reflect back on what someone has said to you. For example, you could say ‘What I’m hearing is that this homework assignment is especially difficult for you, and it’s causing a lot of anxiety’
2. Express that you might know how someone else is feeling and identify with that feeling. For example, you could say ‘When I have a hard time with homework, I feel stressed out, too. Biology is the worst for me’
3. Show someone that you care about them when they are going through a difficult time. For example, you could say ‘I’m sorry you’re stressed out about the homework. Is there something I can help with?’
Building positive relationships takes time, effort, and self-awareness. But every step you take - whether it’s listening better, speaking up kindly, or showing empathy - makes a difference.
You matter. Your relationships matter. And you have the power to make them stronger.
