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Your Wellness is Individual
I agree with Sherri that with all of the contributing factors to our mental and physical health, why do we assume there is one “solution” out there for everyone? And why do we offer flippant responses to people who are struggling to find what helps them? We are all unique beings, so it shouldn’t be shocking that we don’t all reach wellness in the same way.
Reviews Elsewhere – My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent
Caught this review over on NPR and thought it might interest some of you. My Absolute Darling is a novel about child abuse, which I personally find to be something that doesn’t interest me as much, but I know some other survivors who do enjoy reading stories of overcoming abuse, fiction or non-fiction. If that…
Link – Teen Angst Stereotype Prevented Me From Recognizing My Mental Illness
I find Erin’s story interesting because I think it is easy to look at a teenager, especially one who’s not exhibiting the signs we saw on the TV news story about teenagers and drugs/depression, and assume “it’s just a phase”. It might not be: “I clung to the idea that mental illness came for other…
Would Everyone Benefit From Having a Therapist?
She goes on to document the appallingly low percentage of people who manage to get therapy, as well as the difference between white patients and minorities. She then goes on to talk about this in the context of the quote above, which I had not considered previously. If finding a therapist is truly like dating, and it is in my experience as well, how do we not only make sure that therapy is available, but that there is more than one to choose from?
Sharing – Can I Just Tell You: With So Much To Mourn, We Must Allow Time To Grieve
One of the things I learned in 2019, and saw repeated over and over again in 2020-21, was that there are a lot of people who are so uncomfortable with the idea of death, that they become almost unbearable to be around when you are grieving yourself. They are so uncomfortable with grief, that they really, really need you to get over your grief so that they don’t have to feel uncomfortable anymore.
It’s a weakness. One that cuts people off from their own emotions, whether it be hurt, pain, anger or grief. It hurts people, all in the name of someone else’s comfort.
We see it when people complain about child abuse public service announcements, put in the “required” time at a funeral, avoid people they know dealing with mental health issues, and so on. And it’s not going to change, until it’s them or someone they care enough about to make an effort to get past their own discomfort.
Or, maybe it won’t change. Maybe they’ll continue to isolate themselves from anyone who is hurting. That’s a choice, one any of us is free to make.
Or we can choose to allow people to hurt, and grieve, and simply be with them. Simply care more about that other person than our own discomfort.
Sharing – How America’s Mental Health Crisis Became This Family’s Worst Nightmare
Most of all, the article clearly shows no easy answers. There isn’t one thing broken in this system that can be quickly turned around and made better. It’s everything: government funding, insurance coverage, a lack of people to treat patients, a confusing and frustrating system to find help, and a system so under-resourced that kids are sent to facilities 5-6 hours away from their parents.Â
You don’t fix that overnight. You surely don’t fix it by ignoring the system and avoiding talking about serious mental health issues because they make us feel uncomfortable. That’s why people are out here dying instead of getting help.Â
