Shared Links (weekly) August 24, 2025
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It’s no wonder that I felt alone. I was alone. I was also lucky in finding someone else who was willing to tell their secret in my 20s. Most survivors remain alone with their trauma for decades. Even when they go about their lives, marry, have families, etc., they live alone in their trauma. Others tried to tell someone and weren’t believed, which is a level of being alone that I cannot imagine.
We know that connection is a key indicator of mental health, and the number of people, not just men, who lack meaningful connections is increasing. Perhaps instead of telling boys all how they shouldn’t connect unless it’s in a very short list of acceptable ways, we should embrace all the ways they can connect.
What I’ve known since I was a child being abused is that boys who are withdrawn and disconnected are easy targets for some evil people. It’s dangerous. Stop limiting the ways they can connect; young men need to stop limiting themselves and find healthy connections.
We have created a culture that makes it challenging to form and sustain meaningful connections. It truly is a cultural problem. Whether it’s the lack of third places, our focus on work instead of community, or the fear of reaching out to others, we’re growing increasingly isolated.
That isolation might feel like independence, but it does real harm.
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