Similar Posts
Sharing – Simple social rituals like eye contact and small talk are psychologically powerful
If you’re like me and don’t want to be open to lengthy conversations with strangers, this article is good news. Even small connections, a smile, a nod, or a pleasant “hello,” have mental health benefits.
It might also remind us of the humanity of the people around us. There are worse things.
Sharing – 988 call centers struggling to hire people to answer the phones.
Creating a new number was the easy part. Similar to raising awareness because it’s necessary, it’s essential, but if there is no one there to provide the help we encourage people to reach out for, it’s not nearly enough. Here’s hoping these state and local organizations can find and train people to provide the necessary help during these calls. That’s only a start, of course. We still have so much work to do to make that help accessible to everyone who needs it.
In some ways, this struggle to staff the hotline is a microcosm of the entire mental health field right now. We need a lot of resources that just aren’t there right now. Can we figure out a way to get change that?
Sharing – Now Is the Time to Re-Examine Stigma About Mental Illness
We have gotten better at discussing some mental health issues, but there’s still so much more to do. It’s still not safe for too many people to even admit they need help with anxiety and depression, even though right now we all need support. There is still a severe shortage of help available, and we still treat other mental health issues with something other than fear.
If not now, when? Those of us who can share our stories, should be doing exactly that. For all the people who can’t. And, maybe even more, we need to remind the world that these issues affect people everywhere, from all backgrounds. It’s not just Hollywood, and it’s not just on poor neighborhoods, it affects plenty of people that we probably come in contact with every day. People we know, people we love, people we work with, neighbors, friends, family, etc. are, or have been, struggling with their mental health.
Maybe once we convince enough people of that, they’ll care enough to do something about it.
Links I’m Sharing (weekly)
Hope Contagion: 13 Reasons Why It’s Time to Change Direction Mental health myth busting My Take on Why Mental Health Awareness Month is Important The Many Faces of Anxiety How to start a mental-health conversation with a colleague Why Rock Bottom in Serious Mental Illness Is Death Why staff wellbeing is mission critical for the…
Link – How Emotional Abuse From My Upbringing Contributed to My Mental Health Struggles
It’s not difficult to imagine how believing the things that you are told during an emotionally abusive childhood would create mental health struggles in adulthood. This is true for many of us: The words they spoke still linger in my mind to this day. The feelings of worthlessness, sadness, pain and shame are all still…
Link – Psychotherapy Myths: Therapy Can’t Treat Serious Mental Illness
I do agree with this take away: “The takeaway from this small sample of research is to bust the myth that psychotherapy only treats “mild” mental illness. Or that it can’t be used until a person is “stabilized” on medications. The research data just don’t provide evidence to support these beliefs. None of this is…
