Sheryl has written a quick review of two books she has on the top of her list for healing, The Courage to Heal, and for partners, spouses and other family members, Allies in Healing.
You can check out what she has to say on her site:
When I think about Monika’s point, and my own look at the numbers, I repeat what I said back then, when looking at one individual, the ACE survey is never the whole story. There are lots of childhood experiences that go unaccounted for, there are individual levels of resilience that are not accounted for, and there are early interventions that are not considered. One traumatic experience equals one traumatic experience in the final number, regardless of whether that experience was immediately followed up with support and maybe even therapy, or if it was ignored and maybe even repeated. There are numerous factors beyond simply answering more than 4 questions yes and assuming you’re an addict, or not answering enough questions yes and assuming you aren’t. It is much more complicated than that.
The ACE information is important though because it points us back to that childhood trauma and says “what happened to you?” when treating an individual for depression, or addiction, so that we can include that in our healing. What we want to be careful with is turning it into a blunt instrument when there is still so much not being accounted for within it.
This can’t be shared enough – Depression will come and try to move you into isolation (both socially and emotionally) and get you to cut off all contact with the people who love and care about you. It will lie to you and tell you that the world would better off without you, but the…
Over at the Mental Health at Home blog, Ashleyleia has a review of this book of poetry: The book is a story of She and her struggle with mental illness demons, told in poetic form. It covers a number of common themes that occur in mental illness, including the relentless attack of inner demons while…
How often do I see survivors talking about being healed as if there’s some end where they are done and never have to think about the trauma again, and berating themselves for not having yet reached this state when it doesn’t really work that way. Self-care and learning never stop. We never reach a point where we know everything and live happily ever after. Real-life does not have a happily ever after, it has ups, downs, twists, and turns, and healing will not be any different.
I think there maybe a couple of reasons why we fall into this. Al mentions one of the big ones, this becomes a way to avoid really facing our own issues. Since our issues are “not as bad” as someone else we can point to, this becomes our excuse to simply accept them instead of trying to work on ourselves and do the hard work of healing. Similarly, I also think this is an example where so many of us don’t see ourselves as worthy of getting better. Our issues aren’t as bad, so we don’t really deserve to get treatment, or get support, or even admit that we need it. The truth, though, is that everyone is worth being supported and getting help when necessary. There is no one in this world who has never needed any support, no matter what kinds of trauma and struggles they are having, or how bad someone else might have it.
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RT @SurvivorNetwork: Reviews Elsewhere – Books That Heal: Sheryl has written a quick review of two books she has on the top of her … http…
Reviews Elsewhere – Books That Heal – https://t.co/Q3jaiRKZvx via @Survivornetwork