Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #121
The never-ending challenge for privacy
A long time OK, I wrote a post about social media and privacy. In it, I addressed an issue that a few people had written me about when it came to following the blog on Facebook. Namely, that everyone could see that they had “liked” or followed the page. This was a problem if you hadn’t told your family about your abuse yet, or your coworkers didn’t know about your mental health issues, etc.
Let’s be honest, it isn’t always safe to have that information be out there.
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.
At the time I wrote about subscribing to the newsletter, like this one, or learning about how to follow a site using RSS. That way the fact that you are following and reading posts from a site about mental health and child abuse would be limited to the privacy of your email or RSS reader.
A few weeks ago I stumbled up some information about using a Telegram channel to broadcast messages. I was vaguely aware of Telegram as a group chat type of tool, and I wasn’t about to volunteer to monitor a group chat. If you’ve never tried it, it’s a lot of work. But a channel that will let me post messages on a private platform like Telegram that you can subscribe to in private? Sure, let’s give that a try.
So, if you’re looking for some more privacy and use Telegram, you can follow the blog on the channel - https://t.me/childabusesurvivor
On the other hand, if you want to follow and interact on other social media platforms, click over to the website, where all the social links are. And, don’t forget to share with your friends wherever you see our posts!
New from the Blogs
How Are You, Really? And How To Answer, Really
Some replies are pithy, witty, and sarcastic, and one is even "meh." But, what they get at is the underlying fact that answering "good," "fine," etc., is not the only way to answer the question. We can be honest with ourselves and each other. We can admit that right now, things are far from great. We can all be a little more human and recognize the struggle of being alive sometimes.
I Need You To Go Read This Collection of Research about Teens and Social Media
In our panicked efforts to protect children from the potential downfalls of social media, and there are plenty, we might actually be blocking them from the one place that also offers them information and support that they aren't getting anywhere else and the one place where they can develop the skills to navigate people, information, and relationships that haven't already been navigated for them.
More importantly, for those of us trying to advocate for mental health, we need to realize that there is no simple answer. Turning off all of social media is not going to cure the mental health crisis. It won't change everything that is going on in all of our lives and across the world. Pretending that we'd all have much better mental health if we just killed off Instagram or TikTok isn't going to make the county's mental health problems go away.
On a similar note - The Positive Impacts of Social Media
This is the world we live in. Not one where teens would be fine if only they didn't have social media, but one where teens take to social media to get information about mental health and other issues that they can't talk to anyone else about. Getting rid of social media for minors will leave a void similar to the one I had growing up, where no one I knew talked about abuse or mental health issues, so I assumed I was the only one dealing with it.
Shared from Elsewhere
We tells kids to reach out if they’re struggling. But what if there’s no help available?
This is the big question, not just for kids but for other groups as well:
Staff Warned About the Lack of Psychiatric Care at a VA Clinic. They Couldn’t Prevent Tragedy.
This is a difficult one - Untangling the Negative Beliefs of Childhood: "I am Not Trustworthy"
The Importance of Mental Health Support for Your Family - we can’t forget about the family when one of their loved ones is dealing with mental health issues. They need support too.
Also - New Books for 2024 - Attachment and Trauma Network
From the Archives
Why I Don’t Tell People I’m Struggling Either
And yet, my struggles are still struggles. If I am telling you about them it’s because I need someone to know. I need to be heard. I need to explain what is happening in my own head to someone who will listen to me. I am not negating anyone else’s struggle by talking about my own. Please understand when I, or someone else you know, comes to you and tells you that they are struggling with our mental health, it has likely taken all of our energy just to gather up the courage to tell anyone, so when you deflect like this it’s devastating to us. We carry these heavy, heavy, burdens with us every single day of our lives and we simply need someone to recognize them and maybe help us a little bit every now and again.
As survivors, our healing depends on our ability to create a life where we feel safe. That means both being in a safe place and learning to recognize that safety to get out of this constant survival mode. That mode is not sustainable. It was never meant to be a constant state of being.
What Matters Most for our Mental Health? Each Other
Do you want to know the secret to a healthy and happy life? The science isn’t very complicated. According to this NPR story, it’s other people:
Thanks for reading. If you find this newsletter informative and helpful to you, spread the word. That’s the best way you can say thank you for the effort I put in each week.