As a white person, I don’t generally have much to say about other groups. It’s not my place to talk about the hows and whys of the reluctance of black Americans to seek out mental health resources.
I do, however, know that there is a gap in the availability of treatment for most minority groups in the US and that it’s important for members of every group to talk about mental health.
It doesn’t have to be a grand purpose either, just something that makes you want to return each day. It can be wanting to learn something new, be there for the important days for a friend or family member, see what happens with Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce, or whatever makes you want to get up the next day to be part of it. That moves us to healing, showing up for our lives each day. That, to me, is purpose. What keeps you here? What keeps you connected to other people?
Do more of that.
The article below provides many more details, but similar to what I wrote earlier this week about taking a mental health day, boundaries are personal. How I decide to interact with my family may look very different from how other survivors do it. My boundaries have changed over the years. What they look like now is different from what they were when I was struggling more with my mental health as a younger man. I still have boundaries. I define them for myself every day.
You should, too. You can decide where your boundaries are and when they can be adjusted. You decide what is safe for you. You decide who is harmful to you.
The more I see research like this, the more I become convinced that one of the most significant losses many sexual abuse survivors suffer has to do with how complicated touch becomes for us as adults.
