Harry Makes Pancakes – My Newest Blog
Dear Priscilla Bennett Community,
Harry just finished making pancakes and bacon for me, and I was talking to him about May being Mental Health Awareness Month, and how alone the domestic violence victims feel—first they’re stigmatized for being abused—very often people say, “It’s your fault. You must be doing something wrong. Then, when they develop anxiety or depression because of the physical and mental abuse, the victims are labeled, “crazy, unstable and over-reactive” by the abuser and society at large.
I remember in the emergency room, one woman with a broken arm and black eye who kept shaking and mumbling, “What did I do wrong? Even my two children say, “You make everything into a big deal.” “But they’re right. I exaggerate everything. That’s why I got this,” she said, trying to raise her arm—tears streamed down her face. “I feel like I am crazy—can’t think straight—don’t want to get out of bed.” As they took her off to make a cast for her arm, the nurse next to me said, “She does seem bonkers. Maybe she forgot to take her meds.”
When I retired, and decided to write the book, SOMETHING TO BE BRAVE FOR, I wrote about this issue to help de-stigmatize it by shining a light on it.
Thank you, my friends, for listening. Please go to my website www.priscillabennett.com and click on the RESOURCES tab. If you can, read my articles and blogs. Don’t forget the Priscilla Bennett Pledge to reach out to someone with kindness and remember that we all have SOMETHING TO BE BRAVE FOR.
Take good care of yourselves,
PRISCILLA BENNETT XOXO