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Sharing – The Mental Illness Recovery Paradox
It took me a long time to be comfortable with what happened. Most of that was internal, the embarrassment of being the guy who had public mental health issues and spent a long time in therapy, and trying to build a new life. Part of it was also watching people be uncomfortable in my presence. I didn’t have a choice about who knew about it, and I learned to embrace it as part of my story. That didn’t happen immediately.
Sharing – Are you okay? The power of storytelling in mental health
As I mentioned, in the workplace this is true. Very few people are going to feel safe talking about their own struggles if the leaders in the company never open up about their own at some level. But, it’s also true in our relationships as well.
How many of us wish the people in our lives, spouses, kids, siblings, friends and loved ones, would feel comfortable talking to us about their struggles, yet we never share our own? How would they know that you are a safe person to talk to if you appear to never have any struggles?
Let me give you a prime example from my own life. As many of you know, I worked from home before the pandemic started, and continued to do so all the way through 2020. It had very little impact beyond some lack of socializing, on my life, and so when I compared that to what many others were going through in 2020, I didn’t really want to complain about the things I was struggling with. Most people I did talk to, didn’t really talk about their own struggles either. Finally, however, when I wrote a post about not being OK right now, and shared it across my social media profiles, including LinkedIn, I got notes and messages from a ton of people, some who I haven’t even been in touch with in awhile, telling me about their struggles as well.
I attribute that to two things. One, I know a lot of amazing people who see someone struggling and immediately set out to make sure I knew I wasn’t alone, and two, by sharing my own difficulties, I also provided them a safe place to share their own struggles.
Isn’t that what it’s really all about?
So, what are you struggling with that you have been hiding? What good is hiding doing for you?
Shared Links (weekly)
How social media saved me. How This Doctor Uses Instagram For Mental Health Awareness How to Support Someone Who Has Experienced Trauma How To Help Friends Struggling With Their Mental Health How The 5 Steps Can Help Someone Who is Suicidal – #BeThe1To The Journey of Mental Health Recovery: Why It’s a Good Thing Opinion:…
Shared Links (weekly) Nov. 19, 2023
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The case for inviting everyone to everything– In a time when loneliness is more pervasive than ever, why not extend an invitation?
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Bringing Hope and Suicide Prevention Resources to Veterans and Military Members
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Navigating the Depths: A Personal Journey into Black Men’s Mental Health and the Power of Therapy
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Sharing – “Tetris for Trauma” Viral Twitter Thread: A Master Class in Misleading Psych Research
Again, as Peter goes on to describe the issue is not that people might suddenly play some Tetris when dealing with trauma. That’s probably not going to harm them much, it’s that we, as a society, will come to expect that is the “magic pill” to help everyone deal with trauma and start dismissing it as something that’s easy to fix with some Tetris when it’s much, much more complicated than that. We shouldn’t lose sight of that fact.
