I often talk about encounters between police and someone in a mental health crisis ending in tragedy. So it was refreshing for me to see a situation handled differently, and effectively. I also felt like it might be refreshing to share it to you as well, to see what it could look like when someone with proper training responds to these calls.
I think this says a lot about the things we hear about survivors often. Their testimonies are riddled with muddled memories, they have a hard time not being hyper-alert all of the time, and they can often have difficulty with mood swings, and emotional outbursts.
I think it’s also important to recognize that for the last year, many of us have also been living with various amounts of trauma. COVID-19, racial and gender violence, political violence, etc, just to name a few things that we’ve all been exposed to in overwhelming fashion, and that trauma is having an impact on our brains, as we speak.
Obviously, talking about can lead to these other things. Not talking about it won’t get us anywhere. But we need to do more than talk, we need to figure out better ways to treat people who need it, and make it accessible. That doesn’t happen until all of society understands the importance of it, and is truly educated about it. So, keep talking, but also keep demanding better.
I’ve seen this possibility since 2001, when I started blogging. The possibility that someone, somewhere, dealing with mental health issues, or overcoming abuse, would hop online looking for someone, anyone, who understands that they are dealing with.
We’ve never had more ways to connect with each other, even during a pandemic. Why not use them, and why not be the person who connects others online?
This opinion piece from Katherine Kornberg covers ground that might seem familiar to long-time readers, but if you’re new around here, this is the reality of where our mental health system is. Completely under-funded, under-resourced, and as a result? This: “Without the proper community-based mental health solutions, prisons and jails have become a “dumping ground”…
But, if you had a broken arm, you wouldn’t hop online and talk to your life coach. You’d go see a professional to have it treated. There’s a reason for that, just as there should be a reason why, when someone needs mental health advice, they should get it from professionals, and not random people on the internet.
