Mani-Jade Garcia, or MJ (they/them) is a disabled Black-Indigenous-Latinx two-spirit abolitionist,
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science communicator, artist, and certified holistic yoga teacher exploring the relationship between holistic healing practices and mental health. Mani-Jade works as an educator for the Racial Trauma Center at Genesee Valley Psychology and as a community-based researcher/
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evaluator with Social Insights Research). Mani-Jade is currently completing their doctorate in Clinical Psychology. They are co-founder of Black In Mental Health (Twitter/IG: @BlackInMH), Black In Data (Twitter: @BlkInData) and founder/director of Refuge Workgroup
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(Twitter: @RefugeWorkgroup) a movement dedicated to bringing safety, accountability, and healing to academic and professional spaces. Contact Mani-Jade at manigarcia.com.
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Thread: This week, we’re talking about disability-related minority stress and highlighting the disabled academics advancing this area of research.
What is minority stress?
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Minority stress is defined as chronic stress experienced by members of stigmatized minority groups due to marginalization, objectification, discrimination, and internalized stigma among others.
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Minority stress has been linked to both mental and physical health disparities, including hypertension, diabetes, anxiety, substance abuse, depression, suicidality, and adverse birth outcomes.
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(@manijadegarcia) #Streamlining & #sporulation thread here, discussing ideas for survival, stress management, joy & healing using the acronym ACCESS to organize the ideas.
Almost out of spoons for the day so I'll discuss each briefly & we can keep discussing on my page
(@manijadegarcia) For example, Zoom fatigue is real & it bothers me how exposed vulnerable people are who come to social media for connection—since social media is run by the very people deeply invested in maintaining settler colonialism & its reliance on #epistemicide.
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(@manijadegarcia) #Epistemology thread here, discussing ideas for survival, stress management, joy & healing using the acronym ACCESS to organize the ideas.
While I take a break I'd love you to read my new related article with @sisterSTEM
(@manijadegarcia) #Epistemology refers to to 'how we know what we know.' #Epistemologies are systems of knowledge & knowing informed by the ways different groups of people navigate & make sense of the world & are related to what we justify based on what's "true" or "real."
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Who we are shapes our experiences & therefore our reality. So #disabled people; #women; #BlackPeople; etc. all have their own #epistemologies. Like languages, groups can borrow from each other's epistemologies to build knowledge & make meaning of the world & their lives.
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(@manijadegarcia) #Community thread here, discussing ideas for survival, stress management, joy & healing using the acronym ACCESS to organize the ideas.
Some ?'s I'd love us to delve into: (1) how do we use technology to build community in more accessible & safe ways?
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(@manijadegarcia) (2) COVID-19 taught us that we have the relatively inexpensive digital tools to build more accessible virtual & blended (virtual + in-person) spaces for creating #community. But tools don't build community, we have to! So how do we do that most effectively?
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(@manijadegarcia) (3) How can we utilize #acceptance#compassion & the tools we have to build interconnecting #communities as disabled people with intersecting identities? For example, how do we make people with "psychotic" or "personality" symptoms feel more welcomed?
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(@manijadegarcia) #Compassion thread here, discussing ideas for survival, stress management, joy & healing using the acronym ACCESS to organize the ideas.
(@manijadegarcia) #Compassion to me is like creating welcoming, gentle internal space for the things I am #accepting—so I can be curious instead of judgemental about them. I'm reminded of indigenous views of trauma as "wisdom" & a "teacher," that can lead us to healing.
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(@manijadegarcia) #compassion & #acceptance are closely related in my experience, like a bi-directional positive correlation, (increasing either can increase the other—try not to get hung up on stats "rules.") & #SelfCompassion is super powerful for general #MentalWellness.
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🧵(@manijadegarcia) Whew, responding to the twitter chat from yesterday stirred up a lot for me. After a break I will return to discuss some ideas for survival, stress management, joy & healing. I used the acronym ACCESS to organize the ideas.
(@manijadegarcia) Important point: #acceptance does NOT mean to agree with or like something. It's about doing your best to accept the REALITY of something, including the emotions it may stir.
Acceptance may not always feel good, but I have found it to be good for me.
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