Child Abuse and Mental Health Survivors Information - Issue #119
Enjoy the Holiday Weekend
This week I’m sending happy holiday wishes to all of you, and my appreciation for reading, subscribing, and sharing the newsletter each week.
This will likely be the last newsletter for 2023. I’m taking next week off, not necessarily to be offline, because I’ll be working, but because I feel like the week between Christmas and New Year’s is pretty quiet in terms of finding news to share.
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.
This week’s version is already a little shorter for that same reason, so why not skip a week and come back on Jan. 5th with an issue full of content for y’all? That was my thought anyway.
I know coming into 2023 I had great plans, similar to 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022. And, for the fifth year in a row, various events made me change those plans. This year I was laid off and spent four months unemployed. That wasn’t the plan on Jan 1.
Such is life, however. Our plans sometimes get sidetracked and we have to adjust. My hope for all of us is that we continue to be resilient and adjust to what life brings us in 2024.
What are you bringing with you from 2023?
New from the Blogs
What Kind of Story Does it Take To Get Serious About Connection and Mental Health?
The original news story is from 2013, and I admit I was unaware of it. On the other hand, there is something positive in seeing that something as tragic as this can spur activity and solutions in the Netherlands to deal with loneliness and the lack of social connection:
Sharing - Giving gifts boosts happiness if we avoid the holiday stress. Here's how
How about just saying no to that pressure and making gift-giving about why we give gifts in the first place, to show someone that we care about them and value having them in our life?
That seems less stressful and isn't limited to the end of December. I bet people would value a gift giving any time of year, and I bet giving it will give you a happiness boost, too.
Would Retiring Induce "Relevance Deprivation Syndrome" For You?
I think another way to understand this is our cultural obsession with "what you do" being the defacto representation of "who we are," meaning that when we stop working, it can be detrimental to our mental health. After all, if you've spent 35-40 years identifying yourself as a lawyer, what will you be when you stop working as a lawyer?
Shared from Elsewhere
I’ve been saying this for awhile now, there are things we can’t self-care our way out of, like poverty, racism, sexism, pollution, etc. - Psychiatry Won’t Solve Our Mental Health Crisis — Only Politics Can Do That
Dr. John is optimistic but recognizes that the training has to be done correctly. I'm not as optimistic that it will be, but I would be happy to be wrong because our mental health system needs help:
This has been true in my life - How Loss Changes the Holidays
Speaking of the holidays - Finding Joy in Spending the Holidays Alone
If you’re looking for something to read over the holidays - Behavioral Scientist’s Notable Books of 2023
From the Archives
The Day Everything Changes, but You Won’t Notice
Changes in nature happen slowly like this. Changes in ourselves frequently do as well. I’ve said it many times because it’s true. Healing and learning do not happen overnight. It’s a process. It’s adding a second here, a minute there, and getting to the point where the day is hours longer. Then it’s adding another change and doing it again.
Quick Thought Number 6 – The Perfect is the Enemy of Showing Up
Afraid of being less than perfect, we become nothing. We forget one of the great rules of life, that half of it is “just showing up”. While we try to read and research and find the perfect thing to say and/or do, we’re leaving our friend suffering alone.
Our fear of being less than perfect isn’t protecting our friend from our less than perfectness, it’s depriving our friend of the connections they so desperately need at this time
So grieve. Let others grieve. Know that it takes time. Know that the grief will come and go at various moments and that it is never really “fixed”. That’s OK.
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.