For this year’s World Mental Health Day (WMHD), the theme is ‘It’s Time To Prioritise Mental Health in The Workplace.’ In addition to comments from Shake My Hand’s amazing team of Volunteers, I decided to take inspiration from this theme and also write about all the advice I would give around mental health in the workplace, varying from tips to manage the thoughts and feelings you might struggle with in applying for jobs to coping with having to delegate…
As Founder of this Campaign, I had imagined I’d be creating a lot – if not all – of the content on the website and the social media for Shake My Hand. However, since hiring a Social Media Assistant (the lovely Lou – who you can read about over on our Meet The Team page) I’ve been able to pretty much hand over all the content on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! This means I now – gladly – have a lot more time for putting together News Articles on the Campaign’s website; and I think I like this fact because I’m a Blogger through and through, so I enjoy and excel at writing. So, I really wanted to make clear that this post is written by me because it’s obviously a very personal one, but – at the same time – I can imagine that other rape and abuse Survivors will find common ground within it; and I’m sorry if this is you…
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By Founder, Aimee Wilson
One warning I’ve heard numerous times from countless people who I’ve talked to about the Campaign, has been for me to be careful and cautious in hearing the stories and experiences of other rape and/or abuse survivors. To be aware of how it is affecting me so that I can manage any notions of becoming overwhelmed or having memories of my own experiences triggered and it leading to me struggling with my mental health. I appreciate that all these people have had the best of intentions and motivations in making these comments, but I do wish that people realised that I’m at a point in my recovery where I can really recognise when I’ve reached my limits. Their point, however, has inspired this News Article where I’m going to chat about how important control can be for survivors of rape and/or abuse, who stay silent or speak up…
“When
the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful.”
Malala
Yousafzai
For our first World Suicide Prevention Day (WSPD), Shake My Hand have put a lot of work into this post – which we’ve branded a ‘guide’ – to an absolute TON of links that we think will be helpful for survivors of rape and abuse; particularly where they’re feeling suicidal or beginning to contemplate making a suicide attempt. We recognise that different coping skills or methods of seeking help can work for different people, so we’ve tried to create an enormous variety of links, and we hope that at least one of these is useful for someone…
“Satisfaction
of one’s curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life.”
Linus
Pauling
There’s that saying about curiosity and the cat; but at Shake My Hand, we much prefer the quote above! We appreciate the power of being curious and of asking someone a question, because we recognise that it can leave a person feeling as though someone is genuinely interested and invested in their life, journey, and experiences. And this can really be a supportive and very validating and kind gesture. So, with that in mind, our Founder: Aimee Wilson, thought we should share the questions she’s being most frequently asked in regard to the Campaign…
“Memories
have huge staying power…”
J.
G. Ballard
As a rape and sexual abuse Survivor, our Founder; Aimee Wilson, felt she needed to make a conscious decision to watch Unbelievable on Netflix; a series centred around a young girl accused of lying about being raped. We wondered how she managed to emotionally get through doing this, and so we created a bit of a Q&A…
“Speak
the truth, even if your voice shakes.”
Maggie
Kuhn
With Shake My Hand’s ultimate goal or mission being to encourage Survivors of rape and sexual abuse to report their experiences and tell their story as well as the recent launch of our first hashtag movement; #tellthemsooner, we’ve conducted some research (which included polls on our Instagram and Twitter) and through additional talks with Survivors (including our Founder, Aimee Wilson), we’ve developed these five tips to hopefully help you get through the process of reporting your traumatic experiences…