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2018 Awareness Calendar

Hi everybody! To celebrate the new year, Turningpointct.org has made a calendar showcasing mental wellness awareness days to share with you!

Below is the entire calendar

Share with your friends, or enjoy it yourself! Some of the days may be familiar and some may be new!
We hope you all enjoy it!

Happy New Year!

Know The Warning Signs

Suicide Prevention

Know The Warning Signs for someone who may be at risk of suicide:

  • Threats or comments about killing themselves, also known as suicidal ideation, can begin with seemingly harmless thoughts like “I wish I wasn’t here” but can become more overt and dangerous
  • Increased alcohol and drug use
  • Aggressive behavior
  • Social withdrawal from friends, family and the community
  • Dramatic mood swings
  • Talking, writing or thinking about death
  • Impulsive or reckless behavior

Crisis Resources

If you or someone you know is an emergency, call 911 immediately.

If you are in crisis or are experiencing difficulty or suicidal thoughts, call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. The Lifeline provides 24/7, free and confidential support for people in distress, prevention and crisis resources for you or your loved ones, and best practices for professionals in the United States.

If you’re uncomfortable talking on the phone, you can also text NAMI to 741-741 to be connected to a free, trained crisis counselor on the Crisis Text Line.

TurningPointCT Mental Health Calendar

In celebrating all things mental health, TurningPointCT brings to you our very first mental health awareness calendar! Millions of people are impacted daily by mental health conditions and the more we share and speak about our struggles, the more others can learn from. Let’s continue to spread awareness about mental health, promote mental wellness and share our knowledge.

To download the calendar, visit the forum: https://turningpointct.org/lets-talk/topic/turningpointct-mental-health-calendar/

You can also always find the calendar right here in our media section or on the discussion forum!

Deported for Not Being Gay Enough

The New Colossus

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” Emma Lazarus (November 2, 1883)

Franco is being deported from Sweden. Because he’s “not gay enough.”

He fled Nigeria after being brutally attacked by homophobes inside his own house – his boyfriend was killed in the attack.

Now, the Swedish migration authorities want to send him right back into danger because he couldn’t “prove” that he’s gay.” Published: January 26, 2017, in partnership with the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer rights.

Not gay enough? What does that mean? Not out and about? Not hanging in enough gay bars? Or is it just another plight against individuals because of their sexuality. Isn’t this awkwardly comparable to saying that someone is not ‘straight enough’, which is inherently prejudice?

Worst, to imagine this a legitimate verdict, under any legal system that vows to criminalize prejudice, is contradicting.

At the same time, drawing from recent memory, I can’t recall anyone telling me, or any other gay person whom I know that they will spare us prejudice because of the level of our ‘gayness’.

From observation, there is no real justice in falsely claiming the inexistence of prejudice. On paper it looks good but in reality it’s prejudice all the same. It’s simply sad and unjustifiable.

I’m not exactly sure that one can be ‘black enough’ or ‘immigrant enough’. If I am wrong and that is true, does that mean that one is entitled to a certain level of kindness, compassion and tolerance because of the depth of their skin color or their immigration status? Sadly, this is happening… it’s sadly true and in this case, it hurts.

Anyone who flees their country due to persecution, will confirm that their former life was utter hell… and so is their fruitless effort to prove that they were something that they are not. For this reason, their greatest wish is not to be judged, in any way or form, on the basis of their sexuality. A life spent constantly fighting the odds, is in itself, a burden to bare. So being expected to acclimatize to ever changing perception of sexuality is unfair.

There has to be some balance in this world for gay people (and other minorities) because no human being should have to ‘ask’ for their basic human rights. That is not the reality or the world we want to live in.

“Let the poor the needy and oppressed of the Earth, and those who want Land, resort to the fertile lands of our western country, the second land of Promise, and there dwell in peace, fulfilling the first and great commandment.” President George Washington.