Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #81
Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #81
When I'm healed everything will be great and other lies we tell ourselves
This Instagram meme has been rattling around in my head this week.
So many survivors live their lives as if they are waiting for the day when healing “arrives.” I’m truly not even sure what that means anymore. When people ask me if I consider myself “healed” I have to stop and ask more questions about what they mean. Too many people define healed as reaching a state of being where the abuse and mental health struggles never impact me and life is just peachy.
Life doesn’t work that way.
Which is the good news. We don’t have to wait until we are healed to enjoy parts of our lives, and we can stop blaming ourselves for not being healed yet.
Life will have ups and downs. Events from our past will come back and impact us all in different ways at different times. Most of all, we can stop feeling guilty every time we have a bad day. We all have bad days.
Give yourself a break, continue to work on improving yourself, but don’t wait for that to be finished to do the things you want to in your life. It might be too late then.
New from the Blogs
The Words We Use Matter - Communicate Simply and Effectively
When it comes to the mental health of our loved ones, there is nothing more important than ensuring we communicate our support for them. It would be a shame if they didn't feel it because we used a lot of mental health jargon instead of having more extended conversations with them. Take the time. They are worth it.
Sharing - Suicide Rates Start Spiking in Spring, This is Why and How to Get Help
Sadly we often hear about how difficult the holidays can be and to check in with the people we care about during those times. What we don't often hear enough is that the holidays are not the time of year when suicide rates spike, so we should be checking in on our people all year long.
Sharing - Mental Health Over Matter: An Interview with Noah Chenevert
"Focus on what works for you. Many people out there try to convince you that their way is “the magic solution.” But there is no uniform fix. What works for me might not work for you. And what works for me now might not work for me in a few years. We each must find our own way."
Shared From Elsewhere
This issue has been in the news a lot recently, and some of the science can be conflicting, is social media bad for our mental health or is it a way to stay connect to others going through the same thing? Or Both? - Mental Health and Social Media: The Pros and Cons
Good Mental Health: What is it? - that’s a good question.
5 Ways Multitasking Is Bad for Your Mental Health (and 4 Things to Do Instead)
Whether at work, or at home, we have all become multi-taskers. Realistically, our focus bounces back and forth between multiple things we aren't doing well.
Tips For Being In A Relationship When One Partner Experiences Depression - we don’t talk about this enough.
Also, for your reference:
From the Archives
ACE Awareness – Good, Bad, Both?
When we advocate for resources, and policy decisions, to assist with ACE prevention and treatment, we cannot forget the people who are struggling for entirely different reasons. We do not need one treatment and support option, we need a buffet table full of options. Looking seriously at childhood stress and trauma should be one thing on that buffet.
Gratitude is Good For Us, But It’s Not a Cure for Depression
It is good to remind ourselves of what we have to be grateful for, to remind ourselves of the people we are grateful for. It’s good for us to spend time outside on a sunny day, and it’s good for us to go for a walk, or a bike ride. They have benefits.
Suggesting that is all anyone needs to deal with mental health issues is going to result in a lot of frustrated people not getting better. Stop expecting these activities to “fix” everything.
Hoping for a weekend full of things you enjoy!