Sharing – The Youth Mental Health Crisis Has a Deeper Cause Than Social Media
The kids and phones thing was always an easy excuse, but the real mental health issue is much more complicated:
The kids and phones thing was always an easy excuse, but the real mental health issue is much more complicated:
If we want to advocate for mental health, we need to advocate against policies that make mental health issues worse for so many people. Prisons do that. Putting more people in jail does that. The number of incarcerated people in the US is the highest in the world. Many of them need mental health treatment, not criminal records, and a felony conviction that prevents them from getting jobs, housing, and care even once they are outside of prison.
I’ve been saying it for years. Any article that claims to identify the “one thing” you need for your mental health is a lie. There is no one thing that works for everyone, but trying everything will help you identify what works for you. The things that are good for you anyway, like eating right, exercising, learning, social connections, etc., will only help. Why not do them?
There was no gift involved in child abuse, no silver lining, and no reason for it to happen. It was abuse inflicted on me by another person. Period. That experience is part of me, but not nearly the sum of who I am. I refuse to let anyone define me that narrowly.
What if we took an honest look at the most important people in our lives and dedicated ourselves to making them feel like the matter? What would that require of us? Can we honestly say it is too much to ask?