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Sharing – How being sad, depressed, and anxious online became trendy
There is a lot to consider in this article, and I hope that many of us in the “advocate” community will stop to consider it. What is the difference between trying to destigmatize mental health issues, and making them look glamorous? “There is no quick and dirty guide for how we can do sad online…
Links I’m Sharing (weekly)
How Digital Technology Can Enhance Mental Health Oakland may send mental health experts, not police, for some 911 calls Amid concerns about grad student mental health, one university takes a novel approach The Enduring Pain of Childhood Verbal Abuse Using Writing to Help Us Process Our Grief I Made the Greatest Decision of My Life…
Links I’m Sharing (weekly)
Are you feeling lonely? Is Now a Good Time to Try Telehealth or Online Therapy? How to get free therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic Alone, Together: Why It’s Physical Distancing, Not Social Distancing How to Get the Mental Health Care You Need During COVID-19 Mental Health in Times of Crisis Healing from Sexual Violence: How…
Sharing – People Aren’t ‘Addicted’ to Wearing Masks, They’re Traumatized
‘ve been describing it to friends and coworkers as “the inability to just turn off the fear of other people and their germs”. Because, in some ways, that’s exactly what it was. I’ve spent a year plus barely leaving my house. Sure, I worked from home even before the pandemic, but it’s an extreme sport now, going into the back yard is an adventure into a strange and exotic place, let alone being around other people.
Yesterday, however, I did manage to get out and meet up with a friend and former coworker. I won’t say it wasn’t awkward. But, it wasn’t as awkward as my anxiety had built it up in my head, mostly because I think we both knew it was awkward, and went out of our way to figure out what we were comfortable with. We met in the office building where she works, wearing masks. She asked if I wanted to keep being masked walking to lunch, and we agreed to not, and to sit outside to be safer. And she asked before giving me a hug after lunch.
It was an important lesson to me, that we need to navigate this together with the people we care about, and meet them at the level where they are comfortable. It’s not about racing to be the most “normal” group, it’s about making sure everyone comes along, and is comfortable, because we’ve all dealt with various levels of trauma over the last 14-15 months, trauma that will show up in a variety of ways. There’s nothing wrong with people who are slower to feel comfortable, they are just doing what they can. I’d rather meet them where they are, and where I am, than not see them at all anymore, or shame them about their own hesitation. It’s not a race.
Sharing – Social media isn’t the only cause of mental health woes among Texas youth
Social media is easy to target, but it’s not likely the most effective change to make for the benefit of youth mental health. The others take more work and get fewer headlines, so here we are.
