Champions of Recovery: Supporting Those Affected by Mental & Emotional Illness – Part 3

Performant Mental Health, The Series

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

Contrary to popular belief Plato probably didn’t coin this phrase. Rather, Rev. John Watson (pen name Ian MacLaren) is believed to have championed the oft-quoted maxim starting in the late 1800s.¹

The original wording is slightly different: “Be pitiful, for every man is fighting a hard battle.”

In Watson’s time, pitiful would have meant compassionate — a feeling of showing concern for others. This is the backdrop for our third article. How does one show compassion to those suffering from mental health challenges? And once compassion is shown, to become a champion of their recovery?

This RSA short featuring a talk by Brené Brown, PhD, does a terrific job at visualizing the most noble form of compassion: empathy.

Empathy goes beyond sympathetic feelings for others. It demands that we reach…