Saron Lutheran Church
Resources
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline:
call, text, or chat 988
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Mental Health & Addiction Connection line: 866-603-0016
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Minnesota Warmline, for a safe, anonymous, and confidential person to listen and help. Monday – Saturday 12 noon to 10pm: 651-288-0400 or text “support” to 85511
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Parent Email Warmline:
Find resources, answers to your questions, a support network, and you will know that you are not alone.
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First Call for Help:
800-543-7709 or
www.211unitedway.org, for questions about services, assistance, housing and other areas of need.
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Children and Divorce
https://www.milavetzlaw.com/children-and-divorce/
An extensive guide about helping children through a divorce, which is sadly a very common thing kids have to go through.
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Conversation Starters
https://seizetheawkward.org/conversation/starting-the-conversation
To help lead you through before, during, and after a conversation with someone that you are concerned about. It also has scenarios and self-care ideas.
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The mission of Saron's Mental Health Ministry is to encourage each other with support and compassion.
The goal: to provide mental health awareness information and resources to the Saron congregation and the community at large.
Saron’s Mental Health Ministry will explore
a different topic each month.
This month’s topic is:
IT REALLY IS OKAY TO NOT BE OKAY
Not only is it okay to not feel ‘okay,’ it is essential. An
abnormal emotional response to an abnormal
situation IS normal. We cannot simply pick
the emotions we want to have. It just does not work
that way. Feeling sad and scared about a bad situation
is normal. Crying after you get into a fight with your
partner is also normal, as is feeling anxious and scared
about an uncertain future. When we think we might
lose something we care about, that’s sad. We should
let ourselves, and other people in our lives, feel these
things as they come up.
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When you’re lending an ear to someone in distress, have a positive mindset, but don’t offer them a pep talk unless they ask for it. Avoid phrases like:
It could be worse.
Just smile, stop worrying!
What’s there to cry about? It’ll be fine.
Get over it.
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You may feel you’re being supportive by sending positive affirmations to a friend who is going through a difficult time, but in reality, you may be invalidating their feelings and harming them when they are already in a vulnerable state. Your positive affirmations create the idea that your friend is in some way incapable of handling their feelings. You may also be unintentionally saying that there isn’t really a problem at hand.
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Instead, use phrases that affirm the other persons feelings and lets them know you are here to support them without expectation:
It is okay to not feel okay right now.
You should feel whatever emotions you want to feel.
Take your time. I am with you and I’m listening.
You’re allowed to feel this way. Your feelings are valid.
Feel your feelings. Sit with them. Let them pass. And let others ride the wave of whatever emotions they’re feeling too. It’s okay.
Information from Harvard Business Review by Vasundhara Sawhney
ABOUT 988
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
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988 offers 24/7 access to trained crisis counselors who can help people experiencing mental health-related distress. That could be:
· Thoughts of suicide
· Mental health or substance use crisis, or
· Any other kind of emotion distress
People can call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org for themselves or if they are worried about a loved one who may need crisis support. With 988, no matter where you live in the United States, you can reach a trained crisis counselor who can help.
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