Features:
1. Feeling “Good Inside” with Dr. Becky 2. Tools of the Trade: A bipolar history 3. Support the life & health of someone with BP
You don’t need me to tell you (especially on World Bipolar Day) that mental health matters or even that it matters to you. But the reasons may be bigger than most of us realize.
In the wake of yet another mass shooting where America’s children were intended targets, the psychosis of our social “norms” are silently screaming for our attention. A primary culprit, imo, is the suppression of our feelings.
To loosely summarize some of the findings presented by Dr. Gabor Maté in his book The Myth of Normal:
Clinical studies have shown clear evidence of how fight-or-flight only grows when people intentionally try not to show their emotional responses to pain-inducing images (pain, that is, such as disgust or sadness).
Dr. Maté makes a clear case for just how crazy-making this kind of edict is to any individual … & that a whole society bent on intentionally suppressing feelings——while also intentionally disconnecting from support groups like the extended family system——is steeped in a pattern of self-perpetuating crazy-making.
Dr. Becky’s Good Inside parenting community has a lot of resources atm for teachers & parents to address the feelings that come up even for those of us in remote witness to this type of tragedy. If you aren’t a member, you can still access her podcast resources for free.
DBSA, the Depression Bipolar Support Alliance, has many resources & tools for self-actualization. Treating people like … well, people … is a main tenet of the group. Articles like their expertly written History of Bipolar share facts & stats, too, on the past barbarism human society wrought on the “crazy people” among us. And while we are far more civilized as a whole the world over, the question remains:
Where are we yet lacking that group self-compassion to move farthest away from our history of snake pits & cellar chains; through our current climes of low-affect-as-healthy (even though we know this equates to sociopathy); & toward/into a global society that empowers individuals to name & process feelings, rather than to stay stuck in burying them?
You can be part of the empowerment movement by truly being present for those around you. And you can contribute remotely by supporting the DBSA mission.
(Psst, hey there! Are you in empathy overload right now? Click here to hear my recording to help you detox anything that isn’t yours, so that you can take care of you FIRST. I care about your feelings, too!)