August 2020

By Emma Powys Maurice, Pink News, August 22, 2020 A growing number of conversion therapy survivors are sharing their trauma on TikTok amid growing efforts to outlaw the discredited practice. Nearly 700,000 Americans have undergone conversion therapy, half when under 18, according to the UCLA’s Williams Institute. The so-called therapy can range from counselling or “praying away the gay” to torturous electric shocks , but all forms have been rejected by every mainstream health organisation...

By Megan R. Mahoney, STAT, August 19, 2020 My parents fell in love at a time when their union was illegal in 16 states . My father, who is white and who was a priest at the time, married my mother, who later became one of the first black women college presidents. As a mixed-race kid growing up in Ohio, I often felt like a chameleon who could move in and out of different cultural worlds. Understanding various perspectives is a multiracial kid’s superpower, and I felt that I could almost fit...

By JoAnn Stevelos, Psychology Today, August 21, 2020 As a child, I was an orchid but lived like a dandelion. I have always prided myself on my resiliency, for surviving a long and painful childhood filled with abandonment, psychological, physical, emotional, and sexual abuse . Child abuse can do that to you—give you a false sense of self and what resiliency really looks like. Resiliency is not just surviving. This false narrative of resiliency can take years to undo. One approach is to try...

Chronic stress increases a blood-based hormone called acyl-ghrelin for years after the initial traumatic stressor exposure in some adolescents, and those with elevated levels of the hormone are more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to experience more severe cases of the condition, according to a study conducted by researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published August 20 in JAMA Network Open . ...

The coronavirus pandemic has taken a serious toll on the mental health struggles of Americans, particularly young adults. According to a recent survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, out of more than 5,000 respondents who were contacted in late June, 25.5 percent of adults between the ages of 18-24 reported having “seriously considered suicide” due to the pandemic. By comparison, 10.7 percent of all respondents reported having suicidal ideations. “Mental health...

Hi Folks, The latest edition of the Surviving Spirit Newsletter is posted at the website - http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/index.php http://newsletters.survivingspirit.com/pdfs/2020-08-The_Surviving_Spirit_Newsletter_August_2020.pdf To sign up for an e-mail copy, please write to me @ mikeskinner@comcast.net or sign up @ Website via Contact Us, Thanks! Michael.

The Trauma Resource Institute invites you to a virtual screening August 22, 2020 | With panel discussion to follow. About the Film From Mr. Allen's website, "In 1953, my grandfather, Nathaniel Allen, was murdered on the Sampit River in the historic Lowcountry town Georgetown, SC...This documentary short film exposes the truth about his death and delves into the reality of intergenerational trauma due to racial injustices/tragedies. Open Wounds continues the conversation of...

I strive to make sure when I talk about resilience, I don't just focus on the personal but the societal responsibility. During this time, I have even more deeply recognized that my personal skills and resilience can be overwhelmed by "surge capacity" [a term from a recently shared article "Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful"]. As this article states: "I want people to be proud of themselves for being resilient. I just don’t want it to be the only option." Its...

Now we were in a pandemic, and I’m a science journalist who has written about infectious disease and medical research for nearly a decade. I was on fire, cranking out stories , explaining epidemiological concepts in my social networks, trying to help everyone around me make sense of the frightening circumstances of a pandemic and the anxiety surrounding the virus . I knew it wouldn’t last. It never does. But even knowing I would eventually crash, I didn’t appreciate how hard the crash would...

Even though this is me as a toddler, I can’t even get close to imagining how much pain was going on in my little brain. I feel shivers up my back and a big hole in my heart.

GREAT resources for the classroom and for workshops: Lesson Plan, Discussion Guide that includes exploring Childhood Trauma as a Social Justice Issue & and 20-page document that explores the science of childhood trauma and the healing process.

Exploring Prenatal Substance Exposure, Trauma, and Toxic Stress Supporting Families to Build Hope and Resilience This 2-day Conference is designed to introduce and enhance the clinical care professional’s understanding and comprehension of the impact of in-utero exposure to substances, trauma and toxic stress on neurodevelopment, sensory needs, and attachment with children. You will recognize behaviors, emotions and thinking that are a result of prenatal exposure and understand how to...