Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #92
What's in your Mental Health First Aid Kit?
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. If you’ve tried to follow the resources I share on social media and find that the algorithm has decided for you to not show you the things we post, this is the best way to get caught up each week.
For more information about me and why this newsletter exists visit the website - Child Abuse Survivor.
I was reading a little article about mental health first aid kits recently. They shared a couple of TikTok videos that had some suggestions for what to keep in your kit for the rough days. Suggestions included everything from simple hygiene products for the days when even taking care of that is a struggle, to chocolate and favorite music.
It’s not the worst idea to have a box of things you can turn to on the rough days. I don’t have a physical kit, but I definitely have things I turn to when I need them. I keep an appreciation file. I have games I play when I just need to shit down for a bit, music to listen to for a variety of moods. (Apple Music playlists!) I keep my camera battery charged and available to grab and take some photos of nature.
I also have facts that I remind myself of, and people I know I can talk to, even if it’s just to say hello and ground myself in a connection.
Then again, a box full of things I love might not be the worst thing. ;-)
What are your go-to first aid items for the rough mental health days?
New From the Blogs
Thoughts After Watching "Shiny Happy People" - The Duggars Documentary
As shocking and dark as the details of the Duggar family and their relgious beliefs may be to many of us, it shouldn't surprise us at all that they were so many people with a vested interest in the show, the religious organization, and the family were encouraged and even forced to gloss over the reality of what happened. If you're shocked that anyone would go to such lengths to hide child abuse and ignore victims, you simply haven't been paying attention. It goes on everywhere, and I hope the more cases like this one that we can bring to light, the more we'll start to understand how horrible this is.
As an interesting follow up for those who’ve watched the documentary, read this piece by Paula Goodwin last Fall - How Faith Affects Child Sexual Abuse
Sharing - How To Make Someone Truly Feel Heard
Jeremy does a great job describing the skills necessary to do this. It's well worth your time to read. Personally, the area I see people struggle with the most is the inability to sit in silence, which then leads to feeling like they need to say "something", and that can often wind up not reserving judgment.
Linked - Be Intentional About How You Spend Your Time Off
We are expected to work harder and harder and then use our time off to rest so that we can go back and do it some more. It's all focused on being a good worker, but this study seems to indicate that we are all better off focusing on other parts of our lives during the time we spend away from work. Maybe, just maybe, we are more than our jobs. Maybe when we spend the energy and focus on other parts of our lives enough to plan them out and be intentional about them, we're happier.
What a concept.
Shared From Elsewhere
Community: A Key to Healing Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors
I love the way Rachel describes this:
Just as a lighthouse guides ships to safety, a community can serve as a safe harbor for childhood sexual abuse survivors. Sharing experiences with others who have gone through similar trauma can create a sense of belonging and validation that is vital to our healing process.
It will be interesting to watch this and see what kind of preventative steps we can take - The Future of Mental Health Starts with Prevention
This is something we need to have more honest conversations about - Addressing mental health concerns with your elderly loved ones
UK mental health charities handed sensitive data to Facebook for targeted ads - Just no. NO. This is dangerous.
Self-Forgiveness – Why Is It So Hard? - speaking as a survivor, it’s not like we didn’t grow up learning to blame ourselves for everything that happened, right?
From the Archives
Many survivors don’t see fireworks, or don’t see “big” changes and give up on their healing without realizing that isn’t how it works. Healing happens bit by bit, until one day, you find yourself with the ability to do things that you couldn’t do the week before, and then maybe a month later, there is a realization that the bits have added up to something big.
Even The Little Things Are Too Much
I don’t think people who’ve never had, or were close to someone who had depression, understand this. You go to the mailbox and get the mail without a second thought. You get up in the morning, shower, make some coffee and so on. When you have depression, nothing is that easy. There aren’t any activities that you can do without a second thought. Everything is a struggle, everything requires monumental effort just to even attempt to do it.
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.