Shared Links (weekly) Sept. 21, 2025
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Sharing – Why Nobody Talks about Dissociation
This is a post written back a few months ago, and it’s an interesting question, that I have some thoughts about. “Dissociation is a primary coping mechanism for children living in a scary world. It isn’t something that has to be taught. It is a natural response to a threatening environment. And to children, it…
It’s Almost Like Mental Health is Complicated or Something
Being more social and getting some exercise can help people feel better about themselves and improve their mental health struggles. It won’t fix everything, and we must stop pretending they will. If elite athletes can struggle with mental health, we can’t go around stigmatizing people dealing with depression as lazy folks who need a good workout, and we can’t tell someone who’s introverted and struggling with anxiety to meet more people and expect that will cure them.
It’s likely not going to cure them any more than a day in the grass would heal bipolar disorder or hallucinations.
That also doesn’t mean they are worthless endeavors. Having close connections and getting some exercise in nature are, generally, good things.
They aren’t a replacement for solid mental healthcare, though. Our mental health is a little more complicated than that.
Sharing – Boundaries for Healing Childhood Trauma
The article below provides many more details, but similar to what I wrote earlier this week about taking a mental health day, boundaries are personal. How I decide to interact with my family may look very different from how other survivors do it. My boundaries have changed over the years. What they look like now is different from what they were when I was struggling more with my mental health as a younger man. I still have boundaries. I define them for myself every day.
You should, too. You can decide where your boundaries are and when they can be adjusted. You decide what is safe for you. You decide who is harmful to you.
Your Wellness is Individual
I agree with Sherri that with all of the contributing factors to our mental and physical health, why do we assume there is one “solution” out there for everyone? And why do we offer flippant responses to people who are struggling to find what helps them? We are all unique beings, so it shouldn’t be shocking that we don’t all reach wellness in the same way.
Sharing – Touch can reduce pain, depression and anxiety, say researchers
The more I see research like this, the more I become convinced that one of the most significant losses many sexual abuse survivors suffer has to do with how complicated touch becomes for us as adults.
Sharing – 5 Amazing Benefits of Blogging about Mental Health
I’ve had people refer to me as someone who is surprisingly self-aware. I don’t really think of myself that way, but what I do know is that reading and writing about mental health topics, as well as my own experience in therapy, provides me with constant reminders about the importance of mental health, and how that information either resonates with me, or doesn’t, and why.
I don’t think our current culture really encourages that kind of behavior. We are encouraged to be busy, productive, constantly hustling and then showing it off on social media. Self-reflection? Ha! No time for that.
But there should be time for that. Without knowing ourselves, how can we even start to care for our own mental health?
