Rape & Sexual Abuse Survivor Message Board, Support Forums & Chat Room
tags:CA ChildAbuse
Depression and Dealing with Black and White Thinking
tags:CA Depression
Fox News’ “destructive” ignorance: Network gets schooled by male rape survivor
tags:CA ChildAbuse
Social Media Makes Me Stronger (And Less Depressed)
Since we usually only ever hear about the dangers of social media, I’m glad to see others talking about the benefits of connection!
tags:MM SocNetPres CA Depression
tags:CA Depression
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
We have created a culture that makes it challenging to form and sustain meaningful connections. It truly is a cultural problem. Whether it’s the lack of third places, our focus on work instead of community, or the fear of reaching out to others, we’re growing increasingly isolated.
That isolation might feel like independence, but it does real harm.
Facing the Reality of Sibling Sexual Abuse – tags: CA ChildAbuse US Swimming sexual abuse scandal continues to grow tags: Sports CA ChildAbuse This Moving Short Video Takes You Inside The Mind Of Someone Struggling With Depression tags: CA Depression Depression Is Not A Scandal tags: CA Depression How to Understand Your Partner’s (Or Your…
Despite the lack of enough evidence to bring formal charges, I am glad Kyle is talking about what happened. There are many, many, children, male and female, who are abused by older kids, and those stories are rarely ever told. It simply adds to the shame felt by victims when we don’t take these instances…
Google Partners with NAMI To Create an Anxiety-Disorder Self-Assessment The Dangers of Well-Meaning Mental Health Advice We asked how to prevent suicides caused by the pandemic. This is what experts told us Helping Child Abuse Victims During COVID-19 To Kill The Culture of Silence Surrounding Male Sexual Abuse We Need the Voices of Male Advocates 36…
I think that second quote is really the key. We’ve seen studies that are reported as showing that kids who use social media get more depression and anxiety, but those studies do not address the question of whether there’s any proof that the causality is in that direction and not the other. In other words, do teens who use social media a lot develop depression, or do depressed teens use social media more. This study seems to indicate it’s the latter. As we continue with a lot of social distancing, and activities being canceled and in person gatherings are very limited, we know everyone will be relying more on social media to stay connected, so this is an important question, and I think what this study, and others, really shows us is that there are ways to use social media as a positive influence on our mental health, and a way to use it that will not be a positive influence on our mental health.
In the physical world, we have these same choices. Do we interact with people who are toxic? Do we spend all of our time comparing ourselves to others? Do we isolate? Or do we find out tribe, our group of supportive friends/family that can interact socially in ways that help our mental health?
We all make those same choices on social media, but the key difference here is that if we simply don’t choose, and make no effort to make conscious decisions about who we follow and interact with, social network algorithms will make the decision for us. Anyone already struggling with mental health is maybe more likely to not spent much time thinking about these things, and just let the app show them what it wants to show them, and that is not necessarily going to be good for our anxiety. Especially right now.
So, if you find yourself feeling more anxious, angry, irritated, etc. every time you hop on Twitter or Instagram, maybe instead of just being that way, spend some time thinking about who you follow, and what they are bringing in to your life?
For any of my social media using readers, can you share some of your favorite positive accounts that you interact with to HELP your mental health?
