This week’s guest post is Part 2 in a series that looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis. Today’s post covers the preparation needed to skillfully offer support to a friend if you don’t have the resources to become a trained crisis worker but still want tools to help your friend when in a crisis. CN: discussion of …Read More
Tag: abuse
How to Lend a Hand in a Mental Health Crisis Part 1: Enlisting the Help of a Crisis Hotline
Today’s guest post is part 1 of a series that looks at the gaps in our current mental health care system and provides information on how to fill those gaps on an individual basis. This piece is really the epitome of the category, “What Can I Do?” It gives us the tools we need to face problems far larger than we can control on our own. CN: in depth discussion of suicide and suicide ideation, …Read More
Comorbidity: What Are the Chances?
CN: Discussion of Statistics in relations to disability, other social issues, sexual assault, and abuse. There are times when I am talking to someone about my life- about the fact that I’m scared of new proposed laws making it harder for me to survive in Ontario, or about how I’m one particularly unlucky day away from being homeless – when I get the feeling like the person I’m talking to thinks I’m exaggerating. They get …Read More
A Men’s Guide to the Me Too Movement
CN: sexual assault, sexual violence, rape culture, sexism, mention of sex acts, Me Too movement, trauma Warning: Many links in this piece lead to articles that include graphic descriptions of sexual assault, in depth discussions of rape culture, and videos of rape apologists. Some have content warnings, some do not. Click at your own risk. I’ve noticed some men seem a little lost as news of the Me Too movement pours in. Why are so …Read More
How Did You Meet Your Abusive Partner?
CN: emotional abuse, abusive relationships Most abusive relationship stories lie in the story of how you left: How did you get out? What was the final straw? How awful did things have to get before you finally had enough? By the time a survivor leaves an abusive relationship, the abuse has evolved significantly. There is very little good left in the relationship—just enough to keep the victim hopeful for a better future someday—and the tiny …Read More
I Was My Boyfriend’s Servant
CN: mention of suicide, domestic violence, emotional abuse, financial abuse, mention of sexual abuse, poverty, overall disturbing content. “When I say, “Good girl,” I want you to say, “Thank you, sir.” “Yes, sir.” “Good girl.” “Thank you, sir.” I handed him the yellow check. When the bank-clerk originally asked me what color I wanted my checks in, I picked gold, but it turned out that gold just meant a different shade of yellow. It was …Read More