Child Abuse Survivor - Issue #193
Back from vacation - how travel is good for my mental health - until it isn't
This week was my return to work after a 10-day vacation. We toured New Mexico, saw some great views, like the one above, ate some great food, had long conversations while driving across Texas, soaking in hot springs, or waiting out a thunderstorm at the top of Sandia Peak. We disconnected from work, connected with each other, and did all the things that are good for our mental health.
Then we came home.
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.
I suspected that coming home would mean diving back into work, with a pile of work to catch up on, a bunch of people who have been waiting for me to get back to ambush me with questions and demands, etc.
What I did not expect was the ambush we came home to on Sunday.
The A/C was out.
The freezer had also gone dead, leaving a pile of defrosted items to be thrown away.
There’s no telling how long either of those things had been out. We live in Louisiana; it’s June, and our house was 85°F in the early evening. The AC repair didn’t happen until Monday evening. I work from home. It was not only a day of catching up but also very uncomfortable as I waited for the repairman.
The new freezer/refrigerator arrived on Tuesday.
All that stress relief from vacation, gone in no time at all.
But we’re lucky. We have the resources to go on vacation, we had the resources to replace our fridge, and we rent, so the A/C repair was someone else’s bill to pay.
I can’t imagine how much more stressful and harmful to our mental health it would have been to not have those resources. That’s something you’ll see come up in a couple of the links below. How impactful economic difficulties can be, and how, when we don’t create solutions to poverty, food insecurity, etc, we are harming the mental health of millions of people.
Yes, I said we are harming them. While we talk about the mental health impacts of social media or smartphones, we’ll ignore all the research that shows us how damaging poverty is to our mental health. And we’ll continue to blame poor people for being poor and harming their own mental health.
We’ve learned nothing.
New from the Blogs
Sharing - Mental health is not an individual matter, but a political one
It’s not that we shouldn’t look at the individual cases; we should. But we have to address the systemic harm done to mental health by these issues. We have to stop pretending that economic issues don’t create mental health risks and ignore the real harm we do when we do nothing to lift people out of poverty or end racism and economic deprivation beyond calling anyone who wants to do those things a socialist.
It’s not working. It’s not solving the real problem.
Sharing - Why We Oversimplify Psychology
As Whitney says, and I agree, the real work is in the complexities. That goes for our own mental health issues, healing from abuse, and social issues regarding these topics. We aren't going to solve the mental health crisis by getting people to exercise more. It might help some people, but that one explanation will not work for everyone. We are all much more complex than that simple "fix" would lead us to believe, but believing it reduces the cognitive load of figuring out how to help millions of individuals. Get more exercise, or get off social media, are well-meaning bits of advice, but the mental health crisis in the US is more complicated than that. We need programs that reduce financial insecurity, violence, and hatred and offer support for all the various ways we've all been traumatized in our lifetimes.
Worth Reading - Hiding who you are can have real effects on your mental health
When businesses tell people to keep their identity out of the workplace, they are causing mental health harm. Period.
The effort to hide, the message that they should be ashamed of who they are because coworkers are uncomfortable, isn’t just about being kind; it’s a real workplace mental health issue. The question isn’t about whether it causes harm; it’s about whether you, as an employer, care that you are causing harm.
Shared from Elsewhere
I shared some articles like this in the last edition, so add this to your list - Supporting someone you care about who has depression
Even if you’re not very good and never show it to anyone - The Mental Health Benefits of Having a Creative Outlet — Even If You Don’t Feel Like a “Creative”
This is a little late, since Father’s Day was last weekend, but the message still matters:
More research out of Australia - Adverse childhood experiences have long-term impacts on men’s mental health.
Making a Difference:
More than a game: Football, friendship and mental health recovery
Daddy Stroller Social Club helps Atlanta fathers stride towards strong mental health and community
Gym’s small gesture makes a big difference for Alberta man’s mental health
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.