Would you know if someone you know is having a panic attack? Whether it be at work, at some social event, or even within your own home with your family, it can make a huge difference to first know what a panic attack looks like, and then if they agree to your help, what help you can provide.
We can, and should, do everything we can to get out good information and share the truth about mental health issues. We can, and should, share our own stories of the mental health issues we’ve survived, especially those of us who have had many of these issues due to the trauma we suffered.
But that will never be enough for some people. Knowing the truth about these issues, and knowing what people need in terms of non-stigmatizing support won’t be enough to change their actual behavior. The very topic(s) will make them uncomfortable and they will act out of that discomfort instead of relying on what they know. They will put their own comfort above any consideration of how stigmatizing their actions and words are because they simply cannot handle even the slightest discomfort in their lives.
That is their weakness, not ours.
The other thing to keep in mind is that no one else is going to set the boundaries for you that you need. They will set the boundaries that they want for you. That includes family, friends, and employers. They won’t know the limits of your mental health, and they may not even care about them. Some will, but you still need to draw them yourself and then communicate them.
And, maybe. most of all, allow everyone to set their boundaries and respect them. Maybe we could all get some improved mental health if we all understood that a little bit better.
Janet offers 10 suggestions that fit this description: “I’m not big on New Year’s resolutions. I can barely plan my day, let alone the whole year. And I’m also not big on making commitments I know I can’t or won’t keep. Instead, I remind myself of certain behaviors I think I (maybe) can accomplish and…
As it turns out, tuning out people who might need some compassion is simply an act of isolation, and isolation is almost never good for our own mental health. By cutting out the people who don’t always offer up those positive vibes, we wind up disconnected and lonely. Which, of course, we can’t share with the people left around us, because we are all living in the nothing negative bubble, so you are now living a very isolated life, which leads to much MORE anxiety, stress, and depression.
Terri over on the Bookly Matters website has a review of this book, and describes it as:
Part memoir and part heart-to-heart expose on the tragic and invisible lives of the underprivileged, mentally ill, disabled and homeless, you may not like all the people you will meet in this book, but you will definitely find yourself touched by them, and the circumstances they find themselves in.
