By: N.M. Bialko Just before Christmas in 2019, I was home for the holidays but in the throes of a toxic and emotionally abusive relationship. I was feeling like a shell of my former self, and my mind was fixated on negative thoughts. I found myself thinking of a woman who had made the local news because her ex-boyfriend set her on fire in a bank parking lot. She survived for a short while from a hospital bed but later succumbed to her injuries. I was thinking of her and the varying degrees of abuse when I had an idea. What...
Stand Up To Stalking
By: N.M. Bialko One in six women will experience stalking and 66.2% of the time, it will be by a former partner. What is Stalking? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines stalking as: I am part of that 66.2%; I represent the 1 in 6. Will you stand up with me? I met with Prosecutor Mary Lynn Caswell, the Director of Domestic Violence Division and Stalking Unit for Franklin County, Ohio, and Advocacy Coordinator Julienne Long to gain insight on stalking and the steps one could take to be free from the fear of stalking. During our meeting, I posed the following...
Are We Living In An Overly Medicated Society?
By: Whitney Derman Mental Health awareness has made great strides in the past few decades. It is becoming more common to talk about mental health issues and increasingly more common to seek treatment. Despite the normalization, evidence has found that modern approaches to mental illness are not as effective as initially believed. Antidepressants and other psychiatric medicines are the most common way of solving psychiatric issues. Yet, they do not solve the problem: they are band-aids that temporarily dull the symptoms, but they do not cure the disease (Sober Nation, 2014). I would never argue against taking medications for the...
Raising Healthy Children Despite Former Personal Abuse
By: Mandie Schreck Being a survivor of abuse, especially throughout childhood, creates a common fear of raising children and the need to be the best parent or caregiver you can be. We may think of ways we can create a do-over of sorts. If we grew up in an unsafe, abusive, or neglectful home — we would wish for nothing more for our own children than to have safety and security. Focusing on not recreating the past or putting our own children in those circumstances becomes our utmost wish and priority as they grow. How can we as a society...
The Power Of Sharing Your Story
By: Eileen Shea It’s not uncommon for abuse victims and survivors to stay silent, even after they’ve escaped their tormentors because of the layered fear that exists in sharing their stories. Will they be seen as weak to have allowed the abuse to happen? Will they be seen as needy for asking for help? Will they be dismissed because what they experienced isn’t “as bad” as someone else’s experience? Will people tell them how it’s just the world we live in and they need to be stronger? Will their abuser return and inflict worse torment? All of these thoughts go...
Organizational Abuse
By: Mandie Schreck What happens when we are in a work environment or even an institution for medical or mental health care and suffer from abuse? This is where education on what qualifies as Organizational Abuse can help us recognize and bring awareness to this unique type of abuse. We often work in conditions that may not be suited for our mental or physical health but are left with no way to escape. Individuals who suffer from Organizational Abuse may see a lack of communication with higher management, poor or dirty work conditions, lack of proper supervision, or an unsafe...
The Dangers Of Self-Neglect And The Importance Of Listening To Your Needs
By: Whitney Derman The Department of Health and Human Services defines self-neglect as “the behavior of an older adult that threatens their own health or safety and generally manifests itself by failure to provide themselves with adequate food, water, clothing, shelter, personal hygiene, medication (when indicated), and safety precautions.” (Godfrey, 2019). Although self-neglect is very common in older adults, it applies to any adult unable or unwilling to care for themselves (Social Care Institute for Excellence, 2018). This can apply to mentally ill people; however, people can self-neglect even if they are mentally healthy. The major causes of self-neglect are:...
Self-Abuse And Self-Harm Education
By: Rashmi Negi TW: Discussions of Self-Harm Self-Abuse can be defined as any behavior that causes damage or harm to oneself. This type of abuse has many different terms and may be more commonly referred to as self-harm, self-injury, or even non-suicidal self-injury (NSII). Individuals who self-harm do so to release painful emotions which can develop into a coping mechanism in situations of extreme distress. Self-Abuse can be done for many different reasons and in different ways. Individually, we need some way to process complex situations and emotions, and individuals who self-harm have found that hurting themselves is currently their...
What’s In Your Bag: Self Defense Edition
By: Whitney Derman For many women, traveling alone can be risky, especially at night or in an unfamiliar location. We want to believe that everyone has the right intentions and there won’t be any issues, but it is always wise to be extra cautious. I have curated a list of inconspicuous self-defense tools you can easily carry with you just in case you happen to be in an unsafe situation or just to give you extra peace of mind. Clicking the image description will bring you to the links to purchase or recommend them to friends or family members. We also...
Basic Self-Defense Moves Anyone Can Try
By: Rashmi Negi It is always better to be mindful and prepared instead of being in an unprepared and compromising position. Mugging, taunting, or any form of harassment can make a person feel helpless and isolated. It is always good to be prepared for the worst and learn to keep yourself safe regardless of your location. Often people emphasize that learning martial arts, judo, jiu-jitsu, karate, boxing, and other practices are useful for self-defense. These practices are great tools, but it does depend on personal interest, financial constraints, and time. Prevention is the Best Self-Defense There are some basic ways anybody...