Support

  • Threatening to harm children by defunding the NCMEC

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

     As Marisa Kabas, who should be credited with bringing all of this to light, points out, the NCMEC website no longer talks about the increased risk of trafficking to LGBTQ+ youth. They can no longer provide resources and education about those risks or information about how to support those kids. They are even expected to dead-name missing trans kids in all announcements. 

    They are leaving LGBTQ+ kids behind. The alternative to doing that was not to have funding to run the only reporting agency for online CSAM, the clearinghouse used by many online services and law enforcement agencies to combat CSAM and trafficking, and the primary source of information about missing children in the US.

  • Sharing – How to support someone with depression

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    We often underestimate how much we can help because we live in a society constantly looking for a quick solution to problems. Depression doesn’t have that, which leads us to feel helpless to solve the problem. That being said, there is nothing better when dealing with depression than knowing that someone (preferably multiple people) is going to be with you during the struggle. Everything seems overwhelming when you’re in the midst of depression; you need someone to make it just a little less so. 

  • Sharing – Easy Ways to Generate Hope

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t much acknowledgment of situations we are powerless to change and thus have no reason to feel hope about. That aside, the advice in this article is pretty good. The first two bits of advice have helped me in times when everything has seemed overwhelming and hopeless.

    Get specific and break down what seems like an overwhelming problem into tasks I can realistically do one at a time. Then, do the next task.

    Ask for help because many things seem less overwhelming when we know someone else is there. They don’t have to improve everything; it just helps to have hope when we are not alone.

  • Sharing – A stranger’s words have a ripple effect on one man’s life

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    We all can do small acts of assistance with friends, family, coworkers, and strangers. When someone does, it confirms our shared humanity, which far too many people are not feeling right now. It shows us that we are worthy of assistance. It also shows us the power of accepting assistance when offered because when someone offers to help us, we can connect with that person in that shared humanity. 

    We all need more shared humanity. We all need more connection. 

  • Sharing – What not to say to someone with mental health issues

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    In my own experience, at my worst, I was alone. I made people uncomfortable because they didn’t know what to say or how to fix me. The truth was I didn’t need them to fix me. I needed them to treat me like they did before. They needed to talk to me about the ball game or the latest music they were listening to and stay connected to me somehow. I couldn’t speak to them about what I was going through, and I didn’t have the words to convey the pain I was in, but it would have done so much good to have someone remind me that I was still me, in the midst of all that.