• Sharing – Acknowledging Limits – Helping Others

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    One of the things I immediately recommend to anyone asking about starting a blog like mine is to set your boundaries. If you don’t, you’ll burn out and be gone within 6 months. Decide what you will say, what you won’t, and how much time you’ll dedicate to writing for the blog and interacting with people online. Because if you don’t you’ll find yourself unable to cope and you’ll bail on it.

    I’d say the same thing about anything. Yes, be with someone who needs support, but set your boundaries around it, and make sure you are still taking care of your own life. Because the only thing worse than someone not sitting and listening to a friend or loved one when they are struggling, is having some do it for a while, and then disappear. That doesn’t do anyone any good. We all need you to be well just as much as we need you to stick with relationships when someone is dealing with healing, or mental health issues.

    Set your boundaries, and be willing to stick to them, lovingly. As Liz says in her piece, it’s not about you doing everything, it’s about you pointing them to a whole host of options for support. That is what being a good support system is all about.

  • Sharing – Setting Boundaries Emerging from Pandemic Isolation

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    I have to admit, that even in a situation where I feel like I’m not in much danger of COVID-19 any longer, I’m also still feeling a ton of social anxiety. I have to decide what level of comfort I have with people, and how to communicate that to other people. I thought the tips offered in the article below make a lot of sense.

  • Sharing – The Mental Health Therapy-App Fantasy

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    Sadly, as much as apps like TalkSpace might offer ways for people with no local therapist to find one to work with online, they still suffer from this very basic issue:

    “The underlying problem of access — the fact that there simply aren’t as many therapists as there are people who need therapy — has not been solved by therapy apps so much as papered over. “

  • Sharing – ‘They Aren’t Who You Think They Are’

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 4 minutes

    If nothing else, I hope you’ll go read the article for two reasons. One, to recognize how difficult it can be to come forward, and have leaders dismiss your claims, so that you know how not to run any organizations that you and your kids are involved with, and two, to recognize how certain cultural values create a space for abusers. Churches rely on charismatic leaders, but without proper safeguards and oversight, you’ll attract some very charismatic evildoers too. Also, understand that environments with such a strong focus on sexual purity, create a culture where kids are desperate to not do the “worst thing” and are susceptible to this kind of grooming, not to mention a lot of shame around a very natural subject. That shame only increases the secrecy around sex, and again creates a place where secrets can thrive. DO NOT BE A PLACE WHERE SECRETS THRIVE!

  • Sharing – What to Say to the Person with Mental Illness

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    You will not go through life never knowing anyone who is dealing with mental health issues. You might go through life never being trusted enough for anyone to tell you about theirs, but educating yourself will go a long way to being useful, and supportive, to the people you care about.

    Seriously, go read it. And save it.