Survivors

  • Sharing – 5 Powerful Self-Care Tips for Abuse and Trauma Survivors

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    This was written on the website for the Domestic Violence hotline, but the tips are relevant to anyone who has been abused or gone through trauma. This, for example, is similar to many things I’ve written about child abuse too:

    “Throughout this journey of healing from trauma and abuse, make sure that you are being compassionate towards yourself. A great deal of trauma survivors suffer from toxic shame and self-blame. It’s important that we are gentle towards ourselves during this journey, that we acknowledge that we are doing our very best, and that we ask ourselves every day, “What would be the most loving thing I can do for myself in this moment?” in any circumstance. There is no time limit to learning and healing, there is only the power of transforming our adversity into victory, one small step at a time.”

    Check out the article below to read more about how, exactly, to be gentle towards ourselves while still taking those small steps.

  • What is the Justice System For, Anyway?

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    I found myself reading this interview with Dr. Mary Koss recently, and while I’m not 100% sure about the prospect of “Restorative Justice”, as she refers to it, I think that often, when we think about child sexual abuse, we fall into the same misconceptions about the legal system that she refers to when talking more broadly about sexual assault.

    Namely, that the legal system is not really designed to assist with the healing of a victim.

  • Sharing – Childhood sexual abuse: Mental and physical after-effects closely linked

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The study looked at the fact that among girls who had been sexually abused, there are marked increases in mental health diagnosis, and also physical health issues like urinary tract infections, etc. I think either of these is a possibility, maybe even both are true for different survivors. But, I also know that I’m looking…

  • Links I’m Sharing (weekly) Sept. 20, 2020

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    Athlete A: What it Teaches Us… and Fails to Teach Us About Sexual Violence Against Children

    ‘Things will get better’: How talking about his mental health changed Jed’s life

    Raising Awareness About Suicide Prevention

    Suicide In The United States: Alarming Facts And Statistics

    Suicide Awareness in the LGBTQIA+ Community

    Podcasts About Mental Health

    When Your Friend Has Schizophrenia

  • Have You Been Labeled?

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 2 minutes

    The thing I suspect many people worry about, and something that makes me crazy to be honest, is when people see “abuse victim”, or especially “sexual abuse victim”, and their brain immediately takes the shortcut to everything society says about that label. Being a survivor of childhood abuse is not “one” thing, but having your identity boiled down to that “one” thing, is dehumanizing. This is especially true when the stereotypes that we believe about survivors, don’t match who we really are!

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    Links I’m Sharing (weekly)

    ByMikeM Reading Time: 1 minute

    How To Live With Someone Else’s Mental Illness
    PTSD Physical Symptoms Can Be Confounding for Sexual Assault Survivors
    Growing up I Often Heard “Therapy Is for White People”
    How the Pandemic Is Taking Its Toll on Our Mental Health
    One mental health solution: a kinder, gentler emergency department for people considering suicide
    Nearly three in four child abuse survivors without support, study finds
    Suicide After Suicide: What We Must Do to Break the Cycle
    Why Abused Children May Strive for Perfection