Welcome back, friends, to #ShatteringStigmas SIX! Yes, this is the sixth year, no, I cannot believe it, and even more shocking because it’s 2020. While I am once again a bit less competent than I have been in years past, I have three wonderful guest posts to share with you. I’ll be doing a couple posts myself. We’ll just call this Shattering Lite™ and you’ll all love it just the same.
Not sure what the heck this is? Check out past years!
Mental health in the year 2020. Adorable that any of us are any kind of healthy, especially mentally. This has been A Year™ for pretty much every human being on the planet.
So, we shall again discuss why the bullshit stigma around mental health is so harmful. We will highlight books and other media that tries to quell said stigma. We’ll hear from others who have been affected by it all. And at the end of the day, hopefully we’ll all come away with a little more understanding, knowledge, and compassion. Or, at the very least, a nice distraction for, you know ::gestures at world::
And to me personally, one of the highlights of this event is simply not to feel alone. To know that others out there share the struggle, that they understand you. At times, the mental health fight can feel so very isolating. And to feel that sense of community can be everything.
THREE (3) Winners will receive a mental health book of their choice- Open Internationally!
Book Bingo and Bookstagram Fun!
I mean, I will try to also post these on said media sites. I did retweet it already which is frankly better than I expected from myself. Small wins, friends.
And don’t forget to follow along with the other hosts to see what awesomeness they have in store!
Places to Donate:
I tried to make an eloquent statement, but turns out that Taylor’s was way better and this is why she’s the author and I am just a mess.
“Because we are an event run by a handful of bloggers and YA authors, we unfortunately cannot pay our contributors and rely on the generous donation of people’s time and emotional efforts to have this event and hopefully help continue the conversation around mental health and mental health representation in our community. However, this year we want to put action to our advocacy efforts and will be encouraging people who engage with Shattering Stigmas content to donate to one of the following non-profit organizations that strive to provide affordable access to therapy, particularly for Black women and Queer/Trans People of Color:”
►National Queer and Trans Therapists of Color Network
►Open Path Psychotherapy Collective
So, 2020 has been super stressful, and I (and many others I know) have been forced to set down the distractions we usually crutch on and REALLY examine our lives and selves, including our mental health. And it’s unmasked a lot of us who have neurodivergence and mental health issues that we’ve been able to just…ignore. Or compensate over. Which is both terrifying and incredibly cool, to see how full this house of mental issues is (never alone, folks…never alone). I hope, very much so, that one of the permanent silver linings of this stressful time is that we experience an enduring culture shift where mental illness is less stigmatized, gains more financial support, and is explored and discussed more openly. The idea that a thing must cripple your ability to function in society before you’re “supposed to” get help for it needs to die in a fire, first.
When my daughter and I discussed mental health back in March, she made an eye-opening observation about 2020–she said people like herself have been dealing with anxiety before all this turmoil. So now when others are facing it for the first time, she said now other people have an idea of what people like her have been struggling with for a long time. Thank you for hosting this important discussion–you will help so many people, either find resources to help themselves or others, and/or gain compassion towards mental health issues.
I’m listening!
You know I love this event. Honestly this is such a perfect event for 2020 because this is a disaster. It’s nice to see there’s hope though! I am excited to participate again and see what posts are going on here as well as on the other blogs! And the bingo and bookstagram look so fun! I love that.
Nice to see that list of nonprofit orgs to support on this post.
I was surprised to read that you’ve been doing this for 6 years (wow, congrats!) as I just discovered you via Twitter. Don’t know how I’ve managed to miss it this long. Will mark my planner for your annual efforts going forward.
YAY! I love this event, despite what you might think after I bailed on you last year. Looking at that bingo card, I would love some recs for many of the categories, especially books about mental health issues by BIPOC authors. Darius the Great comes to mind–I just started the sequel, and he talks openly about medication adjustments.
This has been quite the year for my metal health. Let’s just say that while the pandemic made my mental health much, much worse, it also pushed me to take some much needed steps that I had been avoiding regarding my mental health.
Right now with winter starting(Yay for seasonal affective disorder!) and finals approaching, it couldn’t be a better time for Shattering Stigmas to be occurring. The support and validation that I get from these posts and knowing I’m not alone is so comforting!
Thank you so much for starting this wonderful event! I can’t wait to see what’s in store this year!