The goal of Feeling Kinda Blue is to be a supportive environment where people struggling with any range of mental illnesses can connect through sharing their experiences. It can be difficult at times, though, to know what to say to someone who is having a difficult time. Here are some tips for interacting with people who may be struggling, either on FKB or in other realms of your life. 

• Validate the person's emotions and create space for them to talk about what's going on.
• If you don't know what to do or say, ask the person how you can best support them.
• If someone expresses having thoughts of suicide, try to gather as much information as possible regarding their plan and time frame for suicide. Explore ways they can stay safe (like getting rid of the means for suicide, distractions, etc.) and offer to stay with them or help them contact someone to stay with them.
• Avoid telling someone how they should or should not feel. Everyone is entitled to feel how they feel no matter the circumstance.
• Try to avoid saying phrases like "things will get better" or "look on the bright-side, ...." Instead, let them know it's okay to feel the sadness or whatever difficult emotions they're dealing with and you're there with them. 

Here's a great YouTube video where Brene Brown explains empathy and how we can be more empathetic towards others: