Those closest to you can be a great source of support, but I think many of us know people who were close to us that were not a source of support at all. Still, you should take the time to talk to them about what is going on, and if nothing else, the response will tell you who your true friends are.
Regardless of how anyone else deals with it though, you can overcome and find a community that is a source of support!
This is such a powerful part of this article, that I wanted to share it.
How does this manifest over time in terms of our identity? Depression is not something that just disrupts our lives—it can change how we see ourselves as people. Let’s start with experiences and resulting connections that never happen because of our depression. Maybe we don’t have the energy to see a new band when they play a show in our town—so we don’t have what could have been a magical life-altering experience of discovering our favorite band. And our identity also becomes connected with helplessness. We don’t naturally assume we are someone who can “make things happen” and plan for the future, because we can’t be sure depression won’t severely undermine our life goals.
First off, if prison guards and officials don’t know enough to make sure people who need medication are able to take it, we need to correct that. That is just abject failure to be human. But we also need to understand why someone having a mental health crisis being in jail is a bad idea…
Woman/Boy Relationships in Pop Culture: No Big Deal – Jordan Larson – The Atlantic tags: CA Taking the Time: Healing Happens at a Trot, Not a Gallop tags: CA Petra’s Birthday Wish for Male Abuse Awareness Week 2013 tags: CA The Reality of Depression : It Exists : Caregivers, Family tags: CA Chilling experiment shows…
For example, if we know that kids who don’t understand boundaries, are lonely, live in stressful family situations, and do not have open communication with other people in their lives, are more likely to be sexually abused, what does that mean when a teen comes out and is not accepted by their family? Or when a blended family becomes dysfunctional, or a kid with disabilities is not taught boundaries but kept hidden away from others?
You have kids who are lonely, who don’t feel safe and loved, who don’t understand boundaries, etc.
If a kid who’s lonely and lacking in self esteem is at risk. And a kid who identifies as LGBTQ+ is at risk, can we stop for a minute and consider that it’s not being LGBTQ+ that is a risk factor, it’s how much more likely that kid is to be lonely and lacking in self-esteem?
And thus, the cycle continues. When it shouldn’t. We know what it is about disabled kids, kids from blended families, or LGBTQ+ kids that make them more prone to abuse, mental health issues, and suicide. It’s not their reality, it’s the responses to their reality that create the risk factors. The things that make them more likely to be loners, disconnected from family support, lacking safe adults to communicate with, etc.
So maybe we should focus on being more supportive of all kids?
And, since we’re on the topic and it is June. Happy Pride!
I, for one, was sexually abused by an older boy. Not a stranger. Someone in my family. Many other men I know were abused by a family member, a member of the clergy, a coach, or some other trusted person known to their parents. I also went into my 20s planning to never tell anyone. I know many men go through most of their lives never planning to tell anyone. I was lucky to find other men who did talk about it, and helped me realize first that what happened to me was abuse and that someone would believe me if I spoke up.
I would argue that most men have never had that. Thus, they don’t show up in any statistics about sexual abuse. The sexual abuse of minors is chronically underreported and is likely to get worse as society continues to push victims to “move on” instead of speaking out. We need more spaces to discuss CSA, not fewer.
I’ve been saying something similar for a long time. Children who are being abused do not develop the skills they need to deal with later life. In this study, we see the repercussions of that lack of development in misbehaving adolescents. Later, maybe we see the same in adults with poor social skills, or illogical…
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Many times family and friends don’t know what to say or do. Dealing with this issue is out of their comfort zone.
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If you missed it – Reading – Depression: Family and Friends Can Help http://t.co/6TBopubKWf #links
RT @SurvivorNetwork: If you missed it – Reading – Depression: Family and Friends Can Help http://t.co/6TBopubKWf #links
If you missed it – Reading – Depression: Family and Friends Can Help http://t.co/6TBoputmkP #links