Deb Lyman, LCSW

I want the love of Black voters right now to transform into the love of Black people.

Today @antipoliceterrorproject is launching MH First Oakland, a new model for non-police response to mental health crises. The hotline (510-999-9MH1) will be available to anyone experiencing a mental health crisis from 8pm-8am Friday & Saturday nights, when no other options for non-police assistance are available. Folks can also reach MH First Oakland via email, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Save the hotline number (510-999-9MH1) and follow @MHFirstOak on social media so that compassionate help is always within reach.

One day at a time. https://medium.com//10-secrets-people-in-recovery-from-add

Trauma prevention tip- limit your news intake. I recommend 10 -15 minutes of reading something that is not sensationalized, maybe NPR.org.

It helps to talk. https://www.nytimes.com//smarte/talking-out-problems.html

A thought for managing nervous system overload while staying informed- try to not read the news online. The barrage of headlines can be overwhelming, even if you don’t read the articles. Watching on tv can also be too much. Remember how traumatizing it was to see images of the towers falling over and over? Same holds here. Try listening to NPR, where you can be told one story at a time, and turn it off when needed. Things are going to be stressful for a long time. Take care of your nervous systems however you can.