Child Abuse Survivor - Issue #177
Happy Halloween! Today can be a day for fun, playfulness, horror flicks and community.
It turns out that Halloween can be good for our mental health. Who knew?
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.
Halloween is a good chance to have some fun and be generous. Both of those things are good for our mental health. This article has some fun ideas for ways to spread kindness:
https://unwantedlife.me/15-spooky-good-ways-to-spread-kindness-this-halloween
Also:
Why Horror Movies and Scaring Yourself Can Make You Feel Less Anxious
How Horror Movies and True Crime Can Make You Happier
Halloween is a good day to be playful, be part of your community, interact with strangers, dress up, and be silly. I’d argue it’s the perfect day for it, because it’s not only socially acceptable, but expected!
Embrace the positive mental health steps you can take this weekend!
What’s your costume this year? Or what was your favorite from childhood?
I’m not dressing up this year, but this is one of my favorites in recent years, the Swedish Chef:
Share your playfulness!
New from the Blogs
Sharing - Here’s what happens to your body when clocks ‘fall back’ an hour
If nothing else, the effects of sleep disruption can wreak havoc on us, and time changes absolutely do.
A Small Way Social Media Can Be a Mental Health Positive
I know opening social media right now can feel like an open invitation to a never-ending scroll of rage. I’ve been avoiding much of it myself for the last few weeks, busying myself with travel and projects instead for the benefit of my mental health. I know, however, that the internet can be a source of inspiration, fun, community, and happiness. I need to commit to finding that rather than lazily scrolling through algorithmic feeds.
Investing in community is investing in our emotional health.
That’s not the society we’ve been building. You can’t “other” whole groups of people and claim to be building community. You can’t post constant hate and outrage online and claim to be connecting. You can’t build community when people are forced to work 60-80 hours per week or two or three jobs to afford rent. We need a commitment to connecting people and building community with everyone. Our current path will only harm all of us.
Shared from Elsewhere
Trauma memories can be difficult. I’ve known many survivors who struggled for years with them. - Struggling with Trauma memories? This is for you.
This is, sadly, not a surprise - Study finds LGBTQ youth mental health crisis worsens.
How Mental Health First Aid Training Can Benefit Faith-Based Communities - I’d argue every community would benefit.
Riot Women on BBC: Can punk improve your mental health? - I was at a punk show last week, and the experience definitely felt suitable for my mental health status.
Not unrelated - Why dancing like nobody’s watching might be the mental health break you actually need.
Always ready to share voices telling honest stories about grief:
How important is sleep? (See above about Daylight Savings)
How can you improve your sleep for better mental and physical health?
Making a Difference:
From the Archives
How Trauma is Like Living Behind a Wall of Water
Think about how that would play out in everyday situations. If the only thing you could see were a wall of water, you’d probably spend every minute of every day simply trying not to drown. For everyone else who can see around the fountain and knows that you are actually standing on solid ground, and that if you just took a step or two to the side, you would see that too, our actions don’t make any sense. That’s true, but depression and abuse rob you of that perspective. We are surrounded by water, the entire world is water, and it is going to engulf us. There is no “seeing around it”; it’s everywhere in our minds.
Clean Up the Spot in Front of You
He recognizes that he is “one guy.” He can’t possibly fix all of it, and trying to would be pointless. So he sees opportunities to make a difference and hopes that more of us will try to “clean the spots” we can, too.
The Many Ways We Invalidate Someone’s Story
We could also talk about abuse here, too, and all the ways our stories are invalidated. How many of these have you heard from folks who find out about the abuse you dealt with as a child, or even as an adult:
“You were young, you’ll get over it” (Or you don’t remember it that well)
“Are you sure it was abuse?”
“I can’t imagine (abuser) doing that.”
“Why didn’t you just leave?”
“How could you have let that happen?”
Thanks for reading. If you find this newsletter informative and helpful, please share it with others. That’s the best way to express gratitude for my weekly efforts.