Shared Links (weekly) Jan. 11, 2026
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Youth Mental Health – A Crisis, but Ending Pandemic Rules Won’t End the Crisis
There’s been a lot of talk about youth mental health during the pandemic, including a number of prominent voices raising the alarm about this crisis. There have been almost as many voices suggesting that ending things like lockdowns, mask and vaccine mandates, and just getting “back to normal” will fix this mental health crisis.
I am not one of those voices.
Now let me be clear, I’m not saying that the pandemic hasn’t played a number on mental health for all of us, it clearly has. But, the crisis in mental health for everyone, but especially young people, existed long before COVID-19.
Sharing – Is it really OK to not be OK?
The article below is about the UK, where NHS funding determines how much mental health treatment is available, and when too many people need it, someone has to decide who does, and doesn’t. Usually that means people who aren’t “sick enough”, get nothing, and continue to get worse.
Can we say the same isn’t true in other countries? In the US, we have a severe shortage of mental health resources and funding too. Maybe there’s not a government agency determining who is “sick enough”, but there are plenty of obstacles to getting care that leave you with similar results. You’re not sick enough to be a priority, you’re not insured enough to get treatment, you’re not wealthy enough to get private care, and on and on.
Sharing – The Benefits of Having Positive Social Interactions
I can’t remember the last time I had many of those little incidental interactions. Once upon a time they were frequent, multiple times a day. Now?
Yeah, not as much. which is why we need to try and create some of these interactions, even if they can’t always be in person. A few texts back and forth, a quick call, a chat with coworkers on our messaging platform, laughter with the people you do see, etc.
I miss the interactions I used to have, there’s no doubt about that, but I am trying, not always successfully, to make sure I still manage to create some. I know how vital that connectedness is for my own mental health.
I also know I’m not alone in that.
Reviews Elsewhere – Things We Haven’t Said
Found this review from a Twitter link. Things We Haven’t Said is a collection of stories. Important stories about surviving sexual violence. – This work contains 25 different stories from both men and women from a variety of backgrounds who have at some point in their lives been subjected to sexual violence. By allowing their words…
Investing in community is investing in our emotional health
That’s not the society we’ve been building. You can’t “other” whole groups of people and claim to be building community. You can’t post constant hate and outrage online and claim to be connecting. You can’t build community when people are forced to work 60-80 hours per week or two or three jobs to afford rent. We need a commitment to connecting people and building community with everyone. Our current path will only harm all of us.Â
