Reviews Elsewhere – Addiction: Notes From the Belly of the Beast

Reviews Elsewhere – Addiction: Notes From the Belly of the Beast

This brief review from Canada piqued my interest because while we tend to read a lot about addiction, one of the points of view we don’t get enough is from the addict.

From their book description, I thought it might interest the many readers who struggle with addictions themselves or know someone who is dealing with them now.

Sharing – Mental Health Professionals Really Can Assume Some Police Duties

Sharing – Mental Health Professionals Really Can Assume Some Police Duties

It’s been trialed in several areas, sending out a mental health team instead of the police to respond to certain kinds of calls. Typically calls that involve a mental health crisis, addiction, etc. What we didn’t have yet were real studies to show whether this was having the desired effect. It’s early, but this is promising:

Sharing – How building a support system helps my mental health

Sharing – How building a support system helps my mental health

What I really enjoyed about the list of things Anya uses to support her own well-being is that some of them are simple activities, yoga, reading, knitting, etc.

Many of us think of our support network when it comes to addiction, mental health, healing trauma, etc., in terms of the people around us. That’s an important part of it, yes, but there are also the things we do to support ourselves. Those are important too.

My list of support activities doesn’t look at all like Anya’s, but it’s there. Getting out and taking photos, learning new technologies, writing, listening to podcasts, etc. Those things keep me connected and involved with the things that interest me, and they are an important part of taking care of my mental health.

Shared Links (weekly) November 28, 2021

Shared Links (weekly) November 28, 2021

Sharing – The ACEs Questionnaire Is Missing These Types of Trauma

Sharing – The ACEs Questionnaire Is Missing These Types of Trauma

When I think about Monika’s point, and my own look at the numbers, I repeat what I said back then, when looking at one individual, the ACE survey is never the whole story. There are lots of childhood experiences that go unaccounted for, there are individual levels of resilience that are not accounted for, and there are early interventions that are not considered. One traumatic experience equals one traumatic experience in the final number, regardless of whether that experience was immediately followed up with support and maybe even therapy, or if it was ignored and maybe even repeated. There are numerous factors beyond simply answering more than 4 questions yes and assuming you’re an addict, or not answering enough questions yes and assuming you aren’t. It is much more complicated than that. 

The ACE information is important though because it points us back to that childhood trauma and says “what happened to you?” when treating an individual for depression, or addiction, so that we can include that in our healing. What we want to be careful with is turning it into a blunt instrument when there is still so much not being accounted for within it. 

Shared Links (weekly) August 29, 2021

Shared Links (weekly) August 29, 2021