Mental Health Awareness is More Than A Tweet

Written By Don Shetterly

There are some things I'm so annoyed by online that I can't hardly bring myself to think calmly about them.  I keep seeing everyone tweet, like, and share online that we need to promote mental health awareness.

While that is great, this is where it seems to stop.  We don't go any further than a tweet.  We don't really jump into it.  We just tweet, retweet, share and like and feel like we are doing something.

Two times, I've put out real hard information and helpful events that were "free" but in both cases, people ignore it and move on to the next mind-numbing tweet of the day.   There is no sign up for the event.  There is no sharing of the event to help others.

All we do is sit back and like or retweet that we need to bring mental health awareness to the world.  Great - I'm for awareness, but if that is where it stops, then what are we doing?  Are we just puffing up our tweet ego for the day?

If I'm upsetting you, I'm not going to apologize because I see this over and over every day.  Helping others with mental health issues and suicide is much more than saying that's what you do.  People need real help, not words on a screen.

Yes, I know the subjects are difficult to deal with and everyone wants to hide their heads in the sand.  Yes, I know that there are many ways to help and some people do all they can.  However, the number of tweets about mental health awareness far outnumber the actual things people do to really help.

We need to get off of our proverbial social media butts and do something good, rather than just claiming mental health awareness.  When events come along, support them.  Don't just ignore them.  When people need help, be there for them, just don't give them platitudes.

Lastly, if all we do is scream at others for not understanding the pain we are in, then we're not helping them to learn.  We end up turning them away.  Share your story with them.  Share not only your pain and struggle but what is helping you and what you are learning.  Offer a hand of support to others, not a bat to beat them over the heads.

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I cringe every time I see the mental health awareness tweets go through because there are far too many that stop at the water's edge.  People struggling with mental health and suicide need others physically to be there for them.  Words on a page do very little.  Thoughts and prayers are empty if no action follows.

Ok, that's my soapbox.  If I have offended you, I'm not going to offer an apology right now.  I want people to be offended so they get up off their proverbial social media butts and do something.  If making someone upset that they aren't doing enough gets someone doing more than this blog post accomplished its purpose.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2/27/18 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required in writing before any part of this blog is reprinted, reworded, transmitted or used in any format. 
• Feel free to share the blog post LINK and a brief summary.  

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Are We Too Busy To Acknolwedge Pain?

I see this play out every day.  It is sad really.  Are we really too busy to acknowledge the pain of others?  Is it really that tough and hard on us?

The pain is clearly evident in the world today.  People are reaching out for someone to just hear their pain and acknowledge it.  Yet, more often than not, their cries go unheard.  Their cries get pushed aside.  Their cries get laughed at with shameful humiliation.

All people want to know is, does someone care!  All they want to know is that someone is listening and someone understands the pain that they are going through.  It is as simple as that.

Yet, far too many times, someone offers them a happy thought or a positive thought or a platitude as if this is the placebo they need.  Far too many times, they just ignore someone as if they are bothering them.  Far too many times, there is a mockery of anyone that cries out in pain.

Inflicting more pain upon them...

Yes, seeing someone hurting and in pain is difficult.  Just telling people to not be negative or only be positive is inflicting more pain upon them.  It is like someone having a cut on their finger and you take a hammer and whack their finger over and over.

Are we failing that miserably in compassion and care and love?  Are we just going around with a puffed up chest and proclaiming how much we love other and how much we care, only to not even attempt to show this to anyone? We are pretty good at saying one thing but when push comes to shove, we're running as quickly away as we can.

Are we truly human?

If you can't be there for someone when they just need to know that you care, are you human?  Are you truly human?  If we can't sit with those in pain and offer a listening ear or a arm that extends with support, I'm not sure we even know what human means.

You can't say one minute that I care and I love others and I have all this love in my heart, then go on in the next minute and let your actions prove otherwise.  When people are in pain, they just need someone to acknowledge the pain.  They need to know someone cares.

It doesn't have to be a grandiose display of solving and healing their pain.  It just requires that you be there with them, holding the space for them as they find their way through that difficult moment of pain.

It is called being human to acknowledge someone's pain and right now I don't see it being practiced anywhere in our world.  It is if we just hate and despise one another while claiming we don't.

I think it is time we truly wake up and either get out of the way for others, or begin to truly learn what it means to be human.  We'll never solve the issues in the world if we only stand opposed, spouting rhetoric that is not backed up by action, real love and compassion.

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2016 by Don Shetterly

• Permission required before any part of this blog post is reprinted, reworded or used in any form. 
• You are welcomed to share the LINK to this blog post.  

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Truly Connecting With People

There is a way to interact with other people.  All too often, we just go through our day sharing our likes and happy slogans online and in everyday life.  Unfortunately in those moments, we are not truly connecting with people.  We are just talking at or to people.

A long time ago, I learned that in order to truly connect with people who needed help and were hurting, preaching to them or telling them what they should do added very little to their life.

In fact, it often turned them away and hurt them to the core.  I see this happening so much in the world.  We are all too quick to tell others what they should do instead of really offering them a hand to hold and a ear to listen.

Do you really want to know how to truly connect with other people?  Begin by sharing yourself and your journey.  Share your pains and struggles.  Share your ah ha moments that changed your life in ways you could never imagine.  Share the rocks you stumbled over in your path and how you managed to crawl up out of the hole after being weary and bruised to the bone.

Ridiculous Platitudes

Every day they are posted and re-posted and spammed and slammed on social media sites around the world.  There is no shortage of them.  They are the ridiculous platitudes.  You know, the ones that make everything in life to be plausible in one short little statement.

Growing up, my father had all kinds of them.  Most of the time they really didn't fit the situation or make sense, but that didn't stop him.  Most people are the same way.  I would often hear Norman Vincent Peale thoughts spouted as if they were equal to the bible.  Of course, he neglected to realize just how awful he was abusing those around him while spouting the platitudes. 

We've all see the various statements.  Most of the time people don't have any clue what to say, so its far easier to just spout something off, regardless if it helps or not.  It makes them feel good and then they go merrily on their way.  Unfortunately, far too often these statements do more harm then good.