Sharing – What 85 years of research says is the real key to happiness
If we want a happier world, we need to stop finding reasons to avoid people and find ways to connect with people, even those who are not like us.
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Sharing – New federal data show a decline in teen suicide
It turns out that teens with safe places to talk about mental health and better access to resources are helped. There is still a lot of work to be done to close the gap between teens who need help and those who can get it, but this is the work that makes a difference in the lives of everyone when it comes to mental health. It’s also hard work. None of the possible reasons for the lower rate discussed in the article are overnight solutions. They take time, money, work, and dedication. Putting a warning label on the internet is easy, but it’s not clear that it has any effect.
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Sharing – Check out some books that prove mental health isn’t one-size-fits-all
Not everyone has the same cultural background when it comes to treating mental health, and that can create a hurdle that is different than the hurdles we all face in dealing with our mental health. This post tries to acknowledge that and provide reading recommendations from some of those cultures.
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Sharing – Childhood Emotional Trauma Linked to Later Social Distress
I had to learn resiliency later in life. I defined it as the knowledge that even if something didn’t go well, if I screwed up at work, did something embarrassing, or said something dumb, that I would still be OK. That is what gave me the confidence to socially engage, rather than the avoidance I had grown accustomed to. Had I felt safe enough as a child, I might have learned that I would be OK at a younger age. That would have made a world of difference in my early adult years, which were a mess when it came to mental health.
I didn’t feel safe as a child. I didn’t grow up knowing that I would be OK even if something bad happened. Bad things happened, and I wasn’t OK because I was alone with them. There was no safe place. I had to learn how to be my safe place. That’s what those kids who struggle with distress and social avoidance are trying to do. Having safety as a child would go a long way to help.
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We can’t rehabilitate while actively harming the mental health of prisoners
Being in prison is a traumatic experience in and of itself. Experiencing violence, witnessing death, sexual assault, etc., are additional traumas. We know for a fact that the higher the number of traumatic events that occur in our lives, the higher the rates of mental health issues. Yet, when it comes to prisoners, we seem not to care. We joke about violence and sexual assault in prison. We do nothing to combat corruption and violence among people who work in prisons, and we cut programs aimed at helping people adjust once outside of prison.
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The Other Mental Health Crisis – Older Men
I don’t think we are on a path to create that world. I think a world where human beings are valued based on how much money they make and how “strong” they are does not even care if older men are lost. They feel like a burden because society treats them like one. How much could they contribute to our community if we didn’t think that way? If we had a community that involved them instead of isolating them, and a healthcare system that didn’t cause people to go bankrupt because they grew old and became sick, perhaps we’d find out.
