World Suicide Prevention Day

To Write Love On Her Arms is hosting their annual National Suicide Prevention Day campaign, which across the nation is recognized as September 10th. TWLOHA (for short) “is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury, and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery” according to the vision statement that you can view on their site.

Like any resilient survivor, it is hard to overcome a life of tragedy without carrying scars with you everyday. While you might not feel them or reflect on them everyday, the days you do, it can prove unbearable. According to ChildHelp.org, 80% of survivors of abuse suffer from depression, anxiety, and emotional disorders. Without the proper help, survivors of abuse can turn to a life of crime, teen pregnancy, or become abusers themselves, while many others find it too difficult to make it through each day…and might harm or even end their own life.

While fighting to end abuse we need to help survivors. They need somebody to ease the pain of open wounds and help the healing process…and this campaign can be what helps.

For more information, to get involved, to help others, or maybe help yourself, go to TWLOHA.org.

Radiate Positivity

The only way to change the world, is to find positive solutions to move forward. We have to remember that each day. It’s easy to reflect upon and become angered by the fact that people choose to hurt their children in such damaging ways, it’s painful to see that the people children are supposed to depend upon the most, might be their biggest enemies…but being angered by this fact, doesn’t help victims.

Instead we have to keep fighting for people to speak up, for people to defend them, and to provide them with a safe and positive environment every child deserves to grow in. When we’re motivated by the victims, rather than the abusers, it is then that we create change.

It’s in all matters of community service that this is evident. We need to focus on empowerment and protection, whether it’s for abused children like us, or endangered wildlife, to promoting saving the Earth…we need to be driven by solutions, and then we will end the problem.

No Socioeconomic Boundaries

I recently wrote on my personal blog and will elaborate here, some things, like emotional disorders, have no socioeconomic boundaries…like Child Abuse, you cannot look at the stats of the quality of someone’s life and conclude whether they struggle and face either of these problems.

As shown in the statistics provided by Childhelp.org, we can conclude that the amount of child abuse survivors facing mental illness is exponentially high compared with most young adults of the same age. The major misconception with mental illness is that we feel someone who is struggling a particular day can tell you exactly what’s wrong, so you can try to fix it, some days your depression and/or anxiety get the best of you and you have no idea why. You hate that woke up, you don’t want to move from bed, you can’t imagine studying, or showing your face at work, you feel numb all over, and a type of cold loneliness, even with someone who loves you unconditionally…today you’ve convinced yourself they don’t…and the worst part of it all, is that you have no idea how to fix it or if you can. The pain can get so bad that is physically hurts to be awake, or sober in a sense, but even when the only thing in the world that you want to do is sleep, you lay there and cry, until you’ve emotionally and physically exhausted yourself to sleep for at least twenty minutes.

It’s not pretty, it’s certainly somebody dealing with the disorders would choose if they had a choice at all, but unfortunately, mental illness is not a choice. It has been romanticized and molded into this thing others assume people decide to pick up one day, like a hobby…but if you truly face these, you probably dream you could wish it away. Mental disorders are a constant battle, so I’m asking you this…if you love somebody who faces these diseases, don’t expect them to give you an outright answer, don’t expect them to go out of their way to talk to you, don’t assume a smile on their face represents a smile in their heart…but be there for them, ask them if they want to talk about it, if not, do what they’d like to do to help themselves. Always encourage therapy, nothing compares to professional help. Go for a walk with them, volunteer at a humane society with them once a week, have an arts and crafts night…anything that you believe will help their well-being, do it, and you’ll be forever grateful you made that decision.

The Art of Parenting

A person I know posted something I found interesting today.

 

She vented to twitter that “If you DO NOT have a child you have no right to tell a parent how to do their job”. While that’s true to some extent, it raises many concerns.

First of all, if you’re truly doing your best and somebody tries to tell you to do something different when your child is happy, healthy, and loved…then obviously they’re pushing their opinion where they shouldn’t…but in other cases I’m not so sure.

I’ve seen this problem come up many times over the past year…mainly from single parents who are probably over-worked and stressed and from people who choose to not have their children vaccinated.

 

While I understand many parents have different reasons for doing things, where do we draw the line? It’s almost as if children are being treated more and more like property (obviously a select few parents)…and this isn’t to attack anyone by any means but I feel everything should be done in best interest of the child…not by what you believe in…because isn’t that what creates a healthy happy life?

 

I responded to the girl who posted this about people who’ve studied adolescent development intensely, as well as those that work with and are passionate about children’s well being, might have some concerns. Where do we begin to say medical choices based on what you believe in rather than your child’s health is a form of abuse? I’m not sure about every child abuse law nationwide, but Massachusetts has a strict policy against medical neglect. The medical side is of course only once instance where the problem of not being invasive towards someones parenting comes up, but I think it’s one of the most common lately.

 

I feel that if you have a child, you should not be claiming them as your property but rather, be protective, do what they need to strive and grow, and help them find their way in the world.