Links (weekly)
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Sharing – From behind the Coronavirus Mask, an Unseen Smile Can Still Be Heard
It’s always nice when a study backs up what you’ve written about before. “It often helps to smile at others to ease social tensions. Recognizing a smile is much more difficult when the mouth is covered. You’d think so. But I and my colleagues know from one of our studies, which will be published soon,…
Shared Links (weekly) May 9, 2021
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Mental health stigma dissolving some since pandemic put the issue in the spotlight
– maybe one benefit of all this, but will it be a permanent change?
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5 Tips for Unloved Daughters on Mother’s Day
– How to Cope When Mother’s Day Brings Up Painful Emotions
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Mental Health Services Wane as Insurers Appear to Skirt Parity Rules During Pandemic
Learn How to Write About Mental Health and Suicide
Robert Vore shared this on his Facebook page, and with everything going on this past week, as well as a realization that all of us who deal with mental health issues on any kind of social media platform, I thought it would be appropriate to share. I plan on spending some time with this next…
I Need You To Go Read This Collection of Research about Teens and Social Media
More importantly, for those of us trying to advocate for mental health, we need to realize that there is no simple answer. Turning off all of social media is not going to cure the mental health crisis. It won’t change everything that is going on in all of our lives and across the world. Pretending that we’d all have much better mental health if we just killed off Instagram or TikTik isn’t going to make the county’s mental health problems go away.
So why aren’t we discussing the harder problems that have some proven research to show the negative effects on children’s lives? School shootings, violence, racism, oppression of LGTBQ and minorities, poverty, lack of access to mental health care, etc.
It’s Almost Like Mental Health is Complicated or Something
Being more social and getting some exercise can help people feel better about themselves and improve their mental health struggles. It won’t fix everything, and we must stop pretending they will. If elite athletes can struggle with mental health, we can’t go around stigmatizing people dealing with depression as lazy folks who need a good workout, and we can’t tell someone who’s introverted and struggling with anxiety to meet more people and expect that will cure them.Â
It’s likely not going to cure them any more than a day in the grass would heal bipolar disorder or hallucinations.Â
That also doesn’t mean they are worthless endeavors. Having close connections and getting some exercise in nature are, generally, good things.Â
They aren’t a replacement for solid mental healthcare, though. Our mental health is a little more complicated than that.Â
