Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors is a weekly Friday feature. My selections are entirely subjective, and I know it will never be possible to include every great resource tweeted. But I can try! I’ve personally read all tweeted links, and believe them to be of great value.

Disclaimer: I am in no way responsible for content found on any other website. Stay safe, and don’t follow links if you believe you might be triggered by them. Also, I will not be re-checking links from older Best Tweets posts, and if the site’s archived URL is different from the one I’ve provided here, you may need to do a search on their site.

Please Share My Stuff! You can now “like” and “share” this post everywhere with the touch of a button or two at the end of the linked tweets! Feel free to do any or all of that! (And thanks.)

Special Notice: Best Tweets for Trauma and PTSD Survivors will be on hiatus throughout the month of December. I’ll be taking the time to regroup and recharge, and hopefully complete some projects that have been whispering in my ear for awhile. I’ll still be around, available by email or on Twitter. Thanks so much for your support year-round!
 

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I am honored and humbled to have my Twitter feed included in this list of 50 Best Twitter Feeds for Psychology Majors! Go check out the other 49, broken out into these categories: News; Organizations; Patients; and Professionals.
 
 
 
 

Photo Credit

@soulseedz Nerves and butterflies are fine —
they show you’re ready.
You just have to get the butterflies
to fly in formation. ~ S. Bull

 
 
 
Six Standalone Tweets to Ponder
 

@JoySoldiers “I’m afraid sometimes you’ll play lonely games too, games you can’t win because you’ll play against you.” ~ Dr Seuss

@visityourself “Unpleasant feelings are not the problem. The problem is the belief that having such feelings is not okay.”

@WisdomalaCarte “It’s an inside job to learn about forgiving, it’s an inside job to hang on to the joy of living.” ~ Don Henley

@Crenelation “A life lived by choice is a life of conscious action. A life lived by chance is a life of unconscious reaction.” ~ Neale D Walsch

@Carlolight “Presence — a state of clarity, simplicity of pure beingness — a very deep allowing of this moment to be as it is.” ~ Eckhart Tolle

@Tamavista “Your conscience is your compass; your reason is your map.” ~ Kitamori

Linked Tweets

International Survivors of Suicide Day, November 19, 2011

@NAMIMass 11/19 Sat. ~ 13th Annual Internat’l Survivors of Suicide Day. A Day Healing for Bereavement After Suicide
[SEO: “Survivors of suicide loss gather at hundreds of simultaneous healing conferences around the world every year on International Survivors of Suicide Day to connect with others who have survived the tragedy of suicide loss, and express and understand the powerful emotions they experience. If you don’t live near a participating city, or you find it difficult to attend in person, you can watch online and join in a live chat immediately following the program.”]

@NAMIMass afsp.org has a great booklet “Coping with Suicide Loss: A Resource and Healing Guide”
[SEO: This is a free .PDF download, or you can email your street address to receive a free paper copy.]

Child Abuse Issues

@pourmecoffee While everyone blah-blah-blahs for a while, child abuse enablers just keep getting away with it.
[SEO: This was a big deal when first announced: “Bishop Robert Finn, the leader of the 134,000-member [Kansas City] diocese, is the highest-ranking Catholic official ever to face U.S. criminal charges in a child sexual abuse case.” The charges stem from his not reporting a priest when he had evidence of abuse. Now he’s essentially made a plea deal for “supervision”.]

@psychcentral Healing Together: The Penn State Scandal: The Complicated Impact on Victims of Child Sexual Abuse
[SEO: “For many [adult survivors of child sexual abuse] the Penn State Scandal is emotionally complicated. Whether they have identified and come forth as victims, embraced the power of healing or live with the memory of abuse on the edges of awareness, they are watching a nation grapple with an unthinkable crime — child sexual abuse, a crime of betrayal and the destruction of innocence — ‘soul murder.’ For them the response to this scandal carries with it the possibility of both positive and negative impact.”

If you’re a survivor of child sexual abuse, this is an excellent article outlining the issues for survivors: bearing witness; cynicism and doubt; retraumatizing vs revisiting; stigmatized vs supported; and the meaning of healing.

There are so many issues about Penn State that could send a survivor into depression, rage, or anxiety. The one that stands out starkly for me is that the grad student who reported the rape to Paterno indicated that the child (and Sandusky) saw him. Then the child (and Sandusky!) saw him walk away and do nothing. (Telling Paterno was equivalent to doing nothing.) Sandusky learned he had nothing to fear by doing this in a very public place. But the level of betrayal and mistrust of adults ratcheted up exponentially for that child in that moment. Don’t be that person.

@DrCarlHindy Child Abuse: Why People So Often Look the Other Way
[SEO: “‘Despite stereotypes of creepy-looking men in white vans, child abusers are actually usually the most likeable, gregarious people around,’ Issa said. ‘They get close to kids not only by charming them, but by charming the people protecting them.'”

It’s no doubt true about charming those who are supposed to do the protecting, but I’m beyond fed up with rationalizations that provide cover for people who fail to do the right thing. See the next post about that, in plain language nobody can weasel out of.]

@SarahEOlson2009 Simple Wisdom from Penn State: If You See Child Abuse, Stop It! (by @DocJohnG, owner of @psychcentral)
[SEO: “If you see child sex abuse occurring — PUT AN END TO IT IMMEDIATELY. Don’t freakin’ pass it up the chain of command so that a half dozen aging white men can decide whether to do the right thing or not and report it, or do the wrong thing and temporarily extend their careers and livelihood.” …

“You don’t need to convene a grand jury to stop child sex abuse. You don’t need to have a meeting of the board of directors. You simply need to do the right thing, grow a backbone, step up, and stop the abuse.” (All bold in original.)

If you cannot do anything more (like directly intervene) in the moment of discovery, at the very least call the police immediately. If you still need some sort of litmus test to make that decision, the easiest one is: Would you do this for your own child?]

The Rest of the Best

@psychcentral The Empty Chair at the Holiday Table
[SEO: Discusses, poignantly, the first year after the loss of a loved one; how the loss impacts every tradition in which the departed participated; and how with time, the loss softens but is never forgotten. The post provides pointers for the grieving person, and for those who are a family member or friend of that grieving person.]

@natasha_tracy You Don’t Have to Live With Side Effects but You Might Choose to
[SEO: “Today I still suffer with a range of side effects. Nothing quite so debilitating as not being able to wake up, but other things like headaches, cramps, fogginess, fatigue and body temperature dysregulation. But I have chosen these side effects. Which is to say that I prefer the side effects to not being on the medication. But that’s me. … So yes, meds are a bitch. But bipolar is infinitely worse. I have chosen these side effects on purpose. I have chosen them because they are the best of all bad worlds.”]

@OneLifeTherapy Perfectionism, Procrastination, And Preparing A Plan For Your Life
[SEO: “How will you know that you’re ready to start? Once you’ve planned and perfected and plotted all your goals on a graph, like we’re so often encouraged to do. How will you know you’re ready? … Maybe you can plan to take the perfect step all you like. But the planning isn’t the stepping.“]

@NAMIMass What it’s like to have bipolar; how she grew to accept it; and mental health services that keep it in check
[SEO: “The winner of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance’s Facing Us Video Contest, Melanie describes what it’s like to have bipolar I disorder (with especially good descriptions of manic symptoms) and how she grew to accept the diagnosis and mental health services that keep it in check. An authentic and touching portrayal from a personal perspective, it’s a great video for someone new to bipolar.” Also check out the runners up and honorable mention videos.]