.jpg?picon=980)
I’m honored that SCARS is a recommended YA read in Michelle Falter’s thoughtful, insightful post on mental health and social justice. I agree that we need to be brave and talk about our issues; eventually it will help create greater understanding, compassion, and empathy.I have long been open that, as a direct result of daily/nightly rape and torture at the hands of my family, I suffer from severe depression, PTSD, anxiety/panic attacks, and dissociation, among other things, and I used to self-harm to cope. I also tried to kill myself as a teen. Abuse leaves lasting effects. 
And yet we can find ways to cope and to heal. And part of that, I believe, is being able to be open about what we’re going through, let go of societal shame or judgement, and find acceptance in ourselves and from people we are close to. Give high-school teacher and educator Michelle Falter’s post a read; I thought it was fantastic. I would personally prefer the term “mental health,” but I wholeheartedly agree with her sentiments! Read it here: http://goo.gl/6VMDDt.