Book Review: What Happened to You?

This book is the right one for right now. I have a saying that “I am only as good as my latest book or Netflix series”, tongue in cheek of course, but it feels so true. The information and ideas shape my day-to-day perspective of the world around me. I recently found this book by Oprah Winfrey and Dr. Bruce Perry. A great and important perspective on how our experiences shape how we react in this world.

The premise is, quite simply, that we may have gotten our perspectives of each other and our thoughts/feelings and corresponding actions all wrong. We tend to look at people and if their behaviour seems different or maladaptive to ours, we ask ourselves or even say out loud “What’s wrong with you?”. Can you feel the difference? I know you do.

Here are some of the “AH HA” moments I had while reading (rather listening to) the book:

• Our experiences of adversity/trauma at an early age shapes how we interact with people and the world around us in a significant way,

• Understanding the fundamentals of our stress response and regulation and dysregulation is something we need to learn and practice for daily interactions,

• A connection with others (I use the term "safe others") is a key condition for resilience and healing,

• Our current medical and social systems are not yet fully supportive of an understanding of this basic human response and how to support and shape it.

Our workplaces - you know, the places that have many humans with many different experiences - could benefit greatly from learning the information in this book. We can then learn and practice the skills to relate better, safer with others.

Mental Health First Aid is a simple way to help. I honestly believe that this training is a "use-now" set of skills to create safe interactions and ways of connecting with others. This is needed, so needed, in a world where we may not yet have the skills needed to support ourselves and others - especially in moments of additional stress and adversity.

Join us to learn more about and find ways to implement not only the ideas from this book, but many other strategies and skills to connect in your workplaces, with your family and in your community.

Getting as many people trained in mental health - how to help others and yourself is the right next step.

-Sherry

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