Similar Posts
Sharing – Mental health ‘warmlines’: Not hotlines, they help before a crisis
This seems like a pretty decent idea, but I have some reservations. What do you think about this idea? Unlike a hotline for those in immediate crisis, warmlines provide early intervention with emotional support that can prevent a crisis – and a more costly 911 call or ER visit. The lines are typically free, confidential…
Sharing – Toxic Positivity: Harmful or Helpful
It’s the insistence that everyone around you also is positive all the time, demanding “Good Vibes Only” as the article points out, that worries me. Because people in real pain, social issues that cause real harm, etc. are not good vibes. When a team was winning gold medals, no one wanted to do more than focus on that success, and repeated stories of abuse went ignored. Is our constant need for positivity forcing us to ignore racism, homelessness, abuse, and many other social issues that we need to do more than give passing support to on social media?
Maybe most importantly, are there people in our lives right now hurting, who desperately need our support, who we are ignoring because they bring us down?
Sharing – Supporting Your New Partner if They Are A Survivor
Understanding this is one of the hardest things about being in a relationship, of any kind, with an abuse survivor. As a sexual abuse survivor, it has been paramount in my romantic relationships to talk openly about my experience and what things can be very difficult for me. These discussions are important because there can be things that seem very simple and routine to you that your partner does not see the same way. (For example, I don’t like to be touched until I can see the person touching me and know they are someone safe. Approaching me from behind and touching me before I’ve had a chance to “see” who I am with can be very startling to me.)
I like to think that survivors are worth the effort, and my wife has confirmed that at least our relationship is worth it. It requires honesty and openness that may be new to survivors, but it’s the only way forward.
Sharing – Mental Health Over Matter: An Interview with Noah Chenevert
We spend so much time shouting from the rooftops when we find something that works, telling anyone and everyone that they NEED to do the same thing. That impulse is understandable. What we leave out, however, are all the things we tried that didn’t work or when the thing that worked for us 2-3 years ago has stopped working.
It would help if we did that more often to remind people that we are not alone but not all the same.
Shared Links (weekly) Feb. 16, 2025
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