Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #74
Find the sunshine where you can
That was the message this week.
One day it was sunny, warm, and the outdoors seemed welcoming. Then it started raining. Then the temps started to drop. We haven’t had the ice other locations have, but I’m certainly glad we took advantage of the sun when we had it.
There’s a lesson in there, especially with all the trouble, uncertainty and sadness in the world today. Find the sunshine where you can, and celebrate it.
New from the Blogs
Connection Matters – An Example
As I read this, I couldn’t help but compare it to the hundreds of stories where the opposite was true. People are so afraid of saying the wrong thing or so uncomfortable with the idea of mental health issues that they run the other way. They disconnect from someone who so desperately needs connection. Someone they love is feeling all that embarrassment and pain and no longer has anyone to connect to and remind them of their value, their humanness.
As the title of Elizabeth’s post says, we need each other.
Revisiting the topic of shame - Two Part Series on Healing the Shame of Child Sexual Abuse
Reviews Elsewhere - The Gap and the Gain by Dr. Benjamin Hardy
Here's why this made me pay attention. I see so many survivors who have come so far and overcome so much, and instead of looking back at the amazing amount of growth, they only see the gap between where they want to go and where they are now.
Shared from Elsewhere
This is an important conversation. We should be concerned about these kids right now. - Honest Conversations: Protecting Children in the LGBTQ+ Community
Darkness to Light is committed to the safety of ALL children, including our most vulnerable youth. And that is why Katelyn Brewer, President and CEO, led an Honest Conversation about child sexual abuse in the LGBTQ+ community—because ALL kids deserve to be safe from harm.
If you’re looking for some new podcasts - 9 Best Podcasts For Anxiety to Listen to in 2023!
Speaking of podcasts, this was a good discussion - Podcast: NHL Goalie with OCD & Anxiety Featuring Corey Hirsch
Make Social Media Work For (Rather Than Against) Your Mental Health - Some studies show how helpful staying in touch with people and building a support community can be for our mental health. The key is controlling it rather than letting it control you.
Speaking of social media:
Linked – This is the year of the RSS reader. (Really!) - They are right about one thing, RSS fixes the algorithm problem. You choose what you want to see. It also helps deal with email newsletter overload. We can’t replace Twitter with newsletters. Obviously, you’re reading one now, but if you’d prefer RSS to yet another email, Substack offers RSS feeds too. Mine is here – https://childabusesurvivor.substack.com/feed
Finally, if the news from Memphis this past week is just too much, read this - Statement from the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention on the Tragic Murder of Tyre Nichols
From the Archives
We Teach Children all the Wrong Things
I remember learning all about windowless vans and strangers with candy. No one ever told me that someone within my own family could also be a sexual abuser. In fact, I went years without even knowing that what happened was sexual abuse, because that was when a stranger abducted you, not when someone close to you and your family threatened and coerced you.
Trying to Escape an Abusive Situation, Don’t Forget About Your Tech
If you are trying to escape from an abusive situation, be it domestic violence and otherwise, don’t trust any technology that the person you are trying to escape from had access to. It’s pretty easy for them to have set it up to track or snoop on you.
Why Think About Abusers? Because It Wasn’t Your Fault
By allowing survivors to examine that history, maybe, just maybe, they can begin to get a clearer picture of what happened. They can look at the larger picture, that the abuser was going to abuse due to reasons that had nothing to do with the survivor at all, the only thing they “did” to attract this abuse was exist in the path of the abuser. In essence, this was a storm that was coming, and it was going to hit someone. It wasn’t your fault it hit you.
Until next week, stay warm out there!