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Sharing – How building a support system helps my mental health
What I really enjoyed about the list of things Anya uses to support her own well-being is that some of them are simple activities, yoga, reading, knitting, etc.
Many of us think of our support network when it comes to addiction, mental health, healing trauma, etc., in terms of the people around us. That’s an important part of it, yes, but there are also the things we do to support ourselves. Those are important too.
My list of support activities doesn’t look at all like Anya’s, but it’s there. Getting out and taking photos, learning new technologies, writing, listening to podcasts, etc. Those things keep me connected and involved with the things that interest me, and they are an important part of taking care of my mental health.
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Sharing – How to heal through life writing
This is an interesting way to think about writing, whether you do it publicly like Uddipana did, or just write for yourself.
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Sharing – Writing can improve mental health – here’s how
I would imagine that part of the reason that no one agrees on the why and how has a lot to do with the fact that it might actually be different for different types of people.
For example, I know some folks who benefit from writing out their emotions, as the article talks about. But there are also those of us who benefit not necessarily from directly writing our emotions to release them, but gain self-awareness through focusing our thoughts to communicate them in written form.
Maybe, there are just a lot of ways writing is good for you, mentally?
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Sharing – Working with Male Survivors: When Reaching Male Survivors, Consider Your Program’s Name
Here’s what I want you to consider. As a victim of sexual abuse, who identifies as male, I go in assuming that most of the resources available are going to be targeted to women. Because, in many cases, they are only available for women. So, if your organization doesn’t make it clear that you serve everyone, with clear examples, and promotion, many male victims may not ever reach out to you.
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Sharing – Acknowledging Limits – Helping Others
One of the things I immediately recommend to anyone asking about starting a blog like mine is to set your boundaries. If you don’t, you’ll burn out and be gone within 6 months. Decide what you will say, what you won’t, and how much time you’ll dedicate to writing for the blog and interacting with people online. Because if you don’t you’ll find yourself unable to cope and you’ll bail on it.
I’d say the same thing about anything. Yes, be with someone who needs support, but set your boundaries around it, and make sure you are still taking care of your own life. Because the only thing worse than someone not sitting and listening to a friend or loved one when they are struggling, is having some do it for a while, and then disappear. That doesn’t do anyone any good. We all need you to be well just as much as we need you to stick with relationships when someone is dealing with healing, or mental health issues.
Set your boundaries, and be willing to stick to them, lovingly. As Liz says in her piece, it’s not about you doing everything, it’s about you pointing them to a whole host of options for support. That is what being a good support system is all about.
