THREAD // On forced sterilizations and ICE: This is not new for the US. Especially in closed-door systems like immigration centers, prisons, asylums, institutions for disabled people, etc., it’s a long-standing form of eugenics and social control. Sources below ⤵️
Let's talk about #meditation and chronic illness: 1) It's not gonna cure your medical conditions. 2) It might improve your life in some ways, IF you're committed long term and have reasonable expectations for what it should do. 🧵
There are many types of meditation. What I'm talking about here are calming & insight meditations, aka the types @Headspace uses. This involves lots of focusing on bodily sensations, paying attention to breathing, & noticing when thinking or feeling gets in the way of that focus.
This might sound like a nightmare. "Focus on what's happening in my body? When I feel like shit?!" I get it. That's what I said too. I was VERY hesitant, especially bc doctors gaslit me in the past by suggesting meditation & saying my physical health problems were "just anxiety."
I was watching Netflix with my cat laying on the couch. All of a sudden he got up, eyes wide and ears forward, and ran over to the wall. 1/
Now this cat is not a playful guy. He's a couch potato. So I paused the TV and followed him. He was staring at a spot on the wall, then up slowly moved his gaze toward the ceiling. Then he started walking around my apartment, looking up and chirping. 2/
It's #WorldSuicidePreventionDay!
As a suicidologist and someone who has experienced chronic suicidality since age 9, I want to offer some insights that mainstream prevention orgs don't often share. 🧵
Suicidal ideation does not mean a person needs to be immediately hospitalized against their will. A significant portion of the population experiences suicidal ideation and never acts on it. I'd argue that it's a "normal" response to many difficult life situations.
Suicidality isn't always episodic. That means that for some people, the desire to die never goes away. We wake up, think about it, and carry on with our day. I've seen this called "grey suicidality" online and it's fairly common. Again, not an emergency.
The journalist that interviewed me for this article said he wanted to better understand the criticisms of 988. In addition to talking to me, he spoke to @LizWinston9, a survivor of involuntary psychiatric care. Her quotes have since been removed, at her request. 🧵
The journalist reached out to both of us because we had popular social media posts cautioning people about 988. The article frames our posts as misinformation with no evidence other than the fact that people who work for 988 say our critiques are misguided/irrelevant.
Our posts are NOT misinformation. In fact, I offered to send the journalist peer-reviewed articles that demonstrate the long-term harms (including increased suicide rates!) stemming from involuntary psych care. He never followed up. We also talked about how the UN has classed...
My research as a critical suicidologist means I often critique nonconsensual (carceral) psychiatric care. Lots of people have asked what I recommend as an alternative. 🧵
First of all, this is a fantastic question! While we critique oppressive systems, we also need to build and support better alternatives. Here are some ideas:
1. When it comes to mandated reporting in schools, we can follow the lead of recent shifts in sexual violence reporting procedures. Instead of always involving police or formal reports, most colleges now simply reach out to the student with a list of potential resources.
Thoughts from a suicidologist on the new 988 crisis hotline: 1. Having a simple number is good. 2. Having more trained crisis teams is good. 2. It's still linked to nonconsensual active rescue which means they can & will trace your call & send police if they deem it necessary.
This is hugely problematic & a barrier for folks who want help. They won't call if they know it's not truly confidential. This is for a good reason, as people can & do get fired from jobs, lose housing, lose access to their kids, etc. after being deemed a danger to themselves.
Second, police kill people with actual or assumed mental illnesses at very high rates, and they're rarely trained for mental health crisis intervention. They're also an organization based on containment and punishment, not care or healing.