In a complex world that recognizes the importance of mental health supports, we have come up with a simplistic solution: self-care. Increasingly, mental health services are becoming more available. There are collectives of therapists who make finding affordable therapy easy. Social media has removed some of the barriers between mental health professionals and the people who need help. There are mental health advocates on social media such as Joanna Konstantopoulou who provides psychoeducation and self-help tips. Even the stigma around mental health may be breaking. There are online spaces such as Melanin and Mental Health that battle the stigma around mental illness and therapy. And though psychotherapy and psychoeducation are increasingly accessible, the dominant approach focuses on individual responses to the problem of mental illness. Individual therapy remains the gold standard and the golden child of mental health, but there are alternatives to individual therapy. Self-care and the host of individual-focused responses may have met its match, a seemingly interminable pandemic, COVID-19. 2020 has shown that self-care is not enough for mental health.
Healing on the inside happens in community. Life’s stressors often come from relationships. From the mundane, “I think my boss does not like me” to intimate partner violence. Families can be toxic and we know that the holiday season is not always cheerful. A Muslim woman and community activist, Nakita Valerio beautifully captures the critique of self-care after the 2019 attack in New Zealand on two mosques that ended in the death of 50 people. Nakita had a one sentence Facebook status that said it all, “shouting ‘self-care’ at people who actually need community care is how we fail people.” There are some burdens that cannot be handled alone.
A trauma-informed approach can help us build communities that promote mental wellness. The principles of trauma-informed care (TIC) as outlined by SAMHSA are already being applied in large organizations such as schools and hospital health systems. TIC acknowledges that people can overcome traumatic experiences with supports. A traumatic event overwhelms our coping abilities. Trauma is the past interrupting the present. Rather than asking the individual to heal themselves, a trauma-informed approach designs the space so that it lessens the likelihood of retraumatization, recognizes that trauma reactions occur, allows the individual to reset and responds with supports. Trauma is an individual problem that requires a community solution and TIC can be applied to communities of all sizes.
A trauma reaction does not look one way. For some people, there is hypervigilance and anxiety. For others, there are sensitive to sensory situations. A trauma-informed approach can therefore alleviate a variety of mental health concerns. Here are four principles of TIC that are important for building mental-health friendly communities.
1. Safety: It is important to keep in mind that safety is determined by the community members. Safety is both physical and psychological. Fostering community where people feel that they can bring their whole selves decreases stress.
2. Mutual self-help: Help does not have to come from a professional who appears to have it all together. Creating community of people who have the same struggles as you, helps to normalize your experience. It also means that you can share lessons with each other as you journey.
3. Level power differences: Each of us can have our role in the community. There is the sage, the caretaker, and even the fun one. Hierarchies are not about our roles but differences in power. Unequal power relationships can trigger feelings of unsafety. In more egalitarian models, everyone is recognized as having something to contribute to the community.
4. Recognize cultural, historical, and gender issues: Even in homogenous communities such as a family there are identity differences that should be considered in relationships. In diverse communities, the cultural history is appreciated and considered in interactions.
