Breaking the silence: help may be close by.

BREAKING THE SILENCE!!!

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This is a prompt that affects all of humanity and, in fact, every living thing (animals included). At some points in our lives, there are issues or circumstances that make us withdraw into our shells, and a good number of times, we mask them with smiles in public.

Matters that bring about silence could range from financial needs to emotional needs. Most times, these situations are caused by chronic (or long-term) conditions that may have eaten deep into our marrows. I will attempt to break this topic down into bits for better understanding.

Society constantly strikes us with needs that require our actions or reactions. These unfavorable conditions can be acute or chronic and, as such, result in a poor coping strategy. A poor coping strategy implies a negative reaction to an event, such that the reaction causes us to withdraw or experience ill-health.

ACUTE SILENCE
Acute silence could be viewed as a condition that temporarily hits an individual and makes him or her withdraw. These conditions can range from emergency needs such as hospital bills to newly diagnosed medical conditions to relationship breaks, etc. The individual may experience shock and, in severe cases, may go into depression. The majority of people can be rescued from this phase if they can be identified and appropriate treatment support instituted. The victim may have sought solutions but, not having the desired results, may have kept silent in frustration.

CHRONIC SILENCE
This usually comes as a result of protracted, unresolved problems that most likely have resulted in depressive conditions with symptoms such as withdrawal. The continued impact of the injurious or culpable factors on the individual can worsen the unfavorable effects on such a person. Chronic silence is most probably a continuation of acute silence. It may be as mild as difficulty healing from an emotional injury or as bad as having suicidal thoughts or tendencies.

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BREAKING THE SILENCE!!!

The first step to solving any problem is to identify it and accept that there is a problem. There is usually the denial process, where people tend to not accept that they are progressing into new characters as a result of the challenges they encountered.

Once the above is overcome, a working coping strategy needs to be developed. This strategy does not imply that the problem will be wiped away; rather, it is a step to find a solution to the problem and also to the complications of keeping quiet.

For example, rape victims would naturally want to keep silent with regard to the incident and would most likely flare up or exhibit anger tendencies whenever they remember or need to talk about that event. Gradually, a monster begins to grow within them unconsciously, and they may show withdrawal or depressive attributes. Such behaviors may result in bad coping strategies such as excessive alcohol consumption, smoking cigarettes, or substance abuse.

In such illustrated situations, a counselor, counseling group, or behavioral scientist would be appropriate to overcome such post-traumatic stress disorders. The victim must identify the problem and be willing to seek help.

Support groups are usually very useful, and neighbors or family members have significant roles to play in identifying unusual behaviors and initiating quick interventions to help resolve the problems.

For those of us that need to intervene in cases where we need to help people break the silence, two factors are important: understanding that we have to deal with the root cause of the problem and the resulting complications, such as depression, and avoiding being judgmental or being harsh to those that we intend to help. Sometimes, all they may require from friends and neighbors is a listening ear. Even if we do not agree with them, they must be patiently corrected in love. Remember, PATIENTLY CORRECTED IN LOVE.

Beyond the fear of speaking up, people are usually worried that their concerns or problems will be discussed with others or the public. It is very crucial to be disciplined while we try to help people break their silence.

This topic is inexhaustible as it is crucial to our everyday lives, and thus, I will be stopping here.

Thank you for reading. I would love to have your comments and contributions 🤗