Shared Links (weekly) Mar. 23, 2025
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This story is an example of a whole bunch of things that are lacking. Was it the insurance company’s inability to provide more intense treatment options at fault? Was the lack of providers to provide that treatment without long wait times? Was it the 55% of mental health providers who’ve given up on dealing with…
I want abuse survivors to know that healing is possible. I want people dealing with mental health issues to have hope that they can get better. I work hard to get that message out, but those 700,000 people who died by suicide in 2019 won’t ever get to read what you just read. They aren’t here.
I’m tired of that. These numbers are so much more than numbers.
The article goes on to discuss the various ways those emotions we are trying to avoid by always being positive are actually good for us. How sitting with and processing those emotions help us learn and grow.
Of course, the one thing I will say about that is this. Be prepared to do that work alone, or very nearly alone. The world is full of people who are not comfortable with their pain, sadness, grief, etc., and refuse to do anything but “be grateful.” They also have zero tolerance for other people “bringing them down” with their own emotions.
These people are not capable of being a support to anyone else. The refusal to acknowledge the entirety of human emotion makes them utterly incapable of sitting with someone in their pain. Sadly, as these ideas have gained popularity, they have also limited our support networks. They have created a shortage of people who will sit with us.
Dr. Friedman has some suggestions. Some may work, others may not, but his last sentence is the one that needs to jump out at you: “Every day, 16 young people die from suicide. What are we waiting for?” We are losing not only young people, but people of all ages, races, genders, income levels, etc….