Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #72
Get better with practice
Last weekend we had the chance to play tourist, and tour guide, for a good friend of ours and her daughter as they visited South Louisiana for the first time. The time was an important reminder of being connected to people we love, and finding the beauty around us that we take for granted.
There was also this sign, 3 things that are hard to say. All three get easier the more you say them though, the fear of being wrong goes away when we realize that we’re all wrong some times, the fear of asking for help goes away when we realize that we all need help, and well, Worcestershire just gets easier with practice.
Let’s give ourselves the freedom to say all three and the understanding to each other to make saying them safe.
New From the Blogs
Sharing – ‘My Husband Was Hospitalized, I Didn’t Tell People Why’
Imagine your spouse going into a hospital for surgery or an injury and having no help navigating that, and also trying to take care of a 12-year-old daughter without anyone else there to take care of a meal or two or transport your kid to school and other events. That's the reality Amy, and many other families, find themselves in because we still live in a world where we aren't supposed to admit to having mental health issues and where those are the kinds of secrets you keep within the immediate family only.
Bad Managers Cause Poor Mental Health
If we want a healthier, open, and inclusive workplace, we need to train the people in charge of setting the tone and the culture. All the lunchtime yoga and meditation in the world can't overcome that shortcoming.
Sharing - What It's Really Like To Be A Male Victim Of Rape
Most of all, we need to understand how common male rape is and that we are not alone in being victims.
Shared from Elsewhere
You Are Enough Just as You Are—but It's OK To Seek Self-Improvement Too - I love this message. It captures the right balance between accepting ourselves and acknowledging that we are also human and as humans we all have things we can get better at.
I also found this NPR interview about Black Men and Therapy quite insightful.
Semi-related, black women are less likely to get treatment for depression because the symptoms don’t match the stereotype of what depression looks like - New Study Shows Why Depression in Black Women Is Often Overlooked by Their Doctors
7 Reminders For When Managing Your Team Is Hard While Also Managing Depression And Anxiety
Over time, these reminders have helped me set reasonable expectations for myself, while also doing my best to not let my team down.
From the Archives
The person who volunteers at the hospital, or works with a youth sports league, can be the same person who goes home after having a few and beats their kids. The teacher being fired for molesting a young child can be the same woman who has spent her free time and dedicated herself to educating those same children.
However, it’s also true that, despite the damage done to us in our childhoods, we have the capacity to heal, to overcome, and to lead lives that are amazingly worthwhile. That’s the message I would like survivors to hear.