The thing about knitting is it’s much harder to fear the existential futility of all your actions while you’re doing it.
Like ok, sure, sometimes it’s hard to believe you’ve made any positive impact on the world. But it’s pretty easy to believe you’ve made a sock. Look at it. There it is. Put it on, now your foot’s warm.
It’s World Mental Health Day! (October 10th.) So I thought it might be useful to compile mental health resources for the Jewish community into one post. If you know of any that aren’t listed, please feel free to add them.
RELIEF – connects/refers Jewish people to therapists and other
mental health resources (focuses mainly on the frum community)
Elijah’s Journey – suicide prevention for the Jewish community (Facebook page)
The Aleph Institute – provides spiritual support for Jews in
institutional environments such as prison, health facilities, and
rehab
No Shame On U – aims to de-stigmatize mental illness by providing
comprehensive education
OHEL – comprehensive services for those facing mental health issues, with professionals fluent in English, Yiddish, and Hebrew
Yad Rachel – for mothers facing postpartum depression, also helps educate family and health providers
some things that horror movie culture has taught you are scary…. are just ableist
….clarify?
okay sure. psychosis? scarier to have than to know someone who has it. DID? im more a threat to myself than people around me. wheelchairs and psych meds? are tools that help people live more functional and flexible lives and are not judgments of the persons character and for sure are not scary things. and for real, intellectually disabled people are not threats, but movies love to make them villains because they act different and understand the world differently. and people with notable physical differences? people who’s bodies look different? people with scars, growths, amputations, etc? are literally just people. and seeing themselves painted like monsters on the big screen is absolutely sickening and damaging to how society will see them.
its not only bad writing but its extremely harmful to people who actually live with conditions that are misrepresented in media. when i found out i had DID, my mom freaked out because her only point of reference was Sybil. when i was younger and first went on psych meds, i thought it meant i was set on a track to be a bad person, because in so many movies and video games you find out the bad guy has medication in his bed side table for some sort of psych disorder. the worst thing a hallucination has ever made me do was wake my mom up at 3 AM to check my bathroom to see if the bugs i saw everywhere were real and the worst thing an “episode” of any sort has made me do is hurt myself. my ptsd doesnt make me kill people, my alters dont kidnap people, my autism doesnt make me so morally unaware that ill murder for senselessly, my ocd doesnt make me hurt people etc etc etc
literally the only “horror” is the ableism. and the only way you can write good horror about disability and mental illness is if the focus is on how society and the medical field treat us rather than focusing on how we are apparently so scary, threatening, and bad.
thinking about the statement that all maladaptive coping mechanisms were helpful and, well, adaptive, at some point, and that they become maladaptive when the circumstance changes or when their detriments outweigh their benefits, and how the framework of “this is no longer helpful to you” is probably better than “this is a bad habit/this is bad for you.” How much better “you don’t have to live like that anymore” feels than “that’s a bad habit you picked up when you were in a bad place.” “It’s ok, you can look now,” vs “you’ve been tainted/infected/sullied by a previous bad circumstance.”
Thought about this today while reading about hermit crabs.
Hermit crabs start out their lives tiny and defenceless, and they choose a small shell to protect them. When they grow too big for the shell, big enough that it stops them from growing more, they abandon it and move on to a shell better for them at that size.
Does that mean the old shell was a terrible mistake? No, because it protected them back when they were smaller and more defenceless! But now it’s limiting their growth, and it’s time for them to find a better shell.
Humans, like hermit crabs, pick up shells when we need protection. Sometimes, we need to ditch those shells to keep growing! If we look at them as shells instead of Irredeemable Moral Failures, it’s a hell of a lot easier to let them go.
Remember, Debbie Reynolds was so much more than just Carrie’s mom. She was a beautiful, amazing, wickedly funny woman in her own right. She loved her daughter and she made her daughter who she was, but it is a disservice to her memory to shrink her down to just being Carrie’s mom.
Also, because it needs to be said, Debbie was a huge supporter of the mentally ill. She helped found The Thalians, a mental health charity in 1955 and served as chairwoman for the organization for fifty-six years. She was an amazing woman and will be missed.
“I want to talk about what #selfcare means in the context of mental health, and what it could look like if you don’t have the funds, time, or ability to relax" 💜
If you or someone you know is in crisis, we’re here to support you 24/7 at: 866.488.7386 🌟 Text and chat available at: TrevorProject.org/Help 📲
this is so great. fuck toxic masculinity. we need something like this stateside (x) | follow @this-is-life-actually
i love this so much
for all my quiet & reserved men going thru it i love u all
This!!!! Spread this message around. Crying is good!!!!
Crying is not female thing, crying is a human thing, and an animal thing, and, I dunno, maybe an alien thing too. Have a cry if you feel like it, dudes!
knitting in the dark 