Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #144
Mental health issues and poverty is a two-way street.
Here’s an interesting study for you to consider:
I’ve seen many people ask the obvious question about the high rates of mental health issues among people experiencing poverty or homelessness. Are they living in poverty because they struggle with their mental health, or do they struggle with their mental health because of the stress of living in poverty?
Thank you for reading the Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors newsletter. Each week, I share new blog posts and other resources that aim to help survivors of childhood abuse and those who are struggling with mental health issues feel less alone as we discuss the issues surrounding our issues.
For more information about me and why this newsletter exists, visit the website - Child Abuse Survivor.
It appears to be both. It’s a causal link that runs both ways, which makes things very difficult by creating a vicious circle.
But that also provides us with a more straightforward path forward if we aim to improve the mental health of people across society:
"The research provides robust evidence for the need to also look at social factors such as poverty, when you delve into the development of mental illness," says Boks.
"Our findings suggest that the reduction of inequalities could lead to substantial public mental health gain," adds Mattia Marchi, psychiatrist at the University of Modena.
This month, National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month, is an excellent time to think about the social factors that impact our mental health. Poverty is one. Racism, sexism, violence, harassment, and discrimination are likewise detrimental to mental health.
While we are so busy trying to blame social media and smartphones for the mental health struggles of so many people in the US, we might want to take a moment and consider how the tremendous increase in income inequality and other social changes have contributed to it as well, and do something about them.
New from the Blogs
Music for your mental health - Where the Road Goes
The words reminded me so much of a time in my life when I could have died and thought none of this was worth it. It also reminded me of why I didn't - my curiosity. My desire to see what happens and "where the road goes" may have been the only thing that kept me alive back then. I didn't have much hope to hold on to, but I knew enough to know that I didn't have all the answers and couldn't tell the future. Why not see what happens tomorrow and the next day?
Eventually, I found some lovely things mentioned in the song—people, places, and things I love.
Sharing - How Modern Culture Drowns Out Psychology’s Important Message
What was missing from every single person interviewed in the story? There was no mention of a family. None of these men talked about having breakfast with a spouse, taking their kids to school, etc. None of them mentioned having friends. Their entire goal was to get a head start on work so they could get ahead. And here we were, writing glowing profiles and encouraging everyone to live like this.
Yet we know that this kind of commercially focused lifestyle devoid of connection with other human beings is a huge part of the loneliness epidemic, especially among men. We know that this loneliness is a major contributing factor to the mental health crisis, and research tells us that the happiest people are the ones with the best connections to other human beings.
Sharing - Stigma is Killing Us
There's simply no way you don't know people struggling right now. Whether you want to consider the levels of anxiety and depression a disorder or a natural reaction to the state of the world today, we would all do well with more compassion and grace.
A lot more. People are dying without it.
Sharing - How to lower a troubling male suicide rate? End the myths about emotions.
I've seen this time and time again. As men, we might even be told that we should be open to our emotions, but there are still very few spaces for men to show emotion. Sports is one example of a space where we can show excitement or disappointment. Sometimes, we can show more complex emotions, but only in romantic relationships—never with friends.
He also discusses the limited range of emotions usually deemed acceptable for men. Note how we are allowed to have anger and how it gets used as the cover for several more complicated emotions. That might also explain why men with depression don't come across as sad but angry and thus don't get diagnosed with depression as often as women. It doesn't "look" like the depression we see in the media.
Shared from Elsewhere
It is a leftover from Pride Month, but this makes sense to me - LGBTQ people say their mental health is positively impacted when states have protective laws. - This ties in with the story I linked in the last newsletter about lessening anxiety when our brains feel safe. You can’t feel safe if you’re not safe.
There is a difference - What makes ‘toxic positivity’ different from a healthy attitude?
See also - The Shadow Side of Positivity: When Optimism Becomes a Tool for Manipulation.
There are so many reasons - Why Childhood Trauma Survivors Blame Themselves.
One person’s tale - On Burnout, Mental Health, And Not Being Okay.
I think the biggest struggle when maintaining healthy boundaries is not wanting to say this, but we need to - Learning to Say No.
From the Archives
How often do you think about other people?
Now, that may sound like a pretty depressing thought, and to some extent, it is. On the other hand, it’s also very freeing. It frees us from worrying about doing something embarrassing, for example. Aside from the most outrageous examples, most of the things we beat ourselves up about and feel embarrassed about go wholly unnoticed by the majority of people. They never give it a second thought.
Sharing – 5 Things to Know About Toxic Shame
Heck, for me, these words were pretty close to exact quotes from the person who abused me. I wanted this because I’m bad, if anyone found out about it, or the way my body reacted, they would know who I really am and reject me. It’s part and parcel of being abused, believing this.
Of course, none of it is true, but when this is what your own mind tells you every single day for years and years? It’s not going away that easy, so maybe spend some time reading links like the one below about how to combat toxic shame.
Quick Thought #14 – When it’s Someone You Know, You Know
So, as scary as it may be, if you’re in a place where you can tell your story to the people you know, you’ll be doing a great service. You will let them know that it isn’t just “other people”; it’s people they know and care about. People they may even want to advocate for. People who may help them understand mental health issues better and inspire them to educate themselves.
Both of these examples are emotional reactions taken to an unhealthy extreme. Those extremes prevent us from being in the real world, connected to real people. Toxic positivity alienates us from our own negative emotions and the real emotions of other people. Toxic shame alienates us from our self-worth and the value that others place on having us in their lives.
Of course, one of the tell-tale signs of depression and unhealthy responses to trauma, like abuse, is overly black-and-white thinking. Going to extremes, if you will. So, it's easy for many of us to fall into these toxic traps. It's easy to think that we should feel shame about what happened to us or that we can somehow rid ourselves of that shame and anger by simply refusing to do anything but be positive. But neither one of these is real healing.
Thanks for reading. If you find this newsletter informative and helpful, spread the word. That’s the best way to say thank you for my weekly effort.