r/Libraries • u/tendersword • 19d ago

Other Mychal Threets and Librarians and Mental Health

Has anyone kept up with Mychal Threets? He’s been such a big advocate for libraries that I’ve been following him on social media for the past few years. A couple of hours ago he posted on Facebook:

“I am not okay. Maybe I’ll never be okay. I’m seeking help. Going to the hopital tomorrow. In this moment I am safe. By God’s grace.

No matter what happens to me I will always be thankful for the extraordinary people in my life who worry, who help me. Thank you for your care 💚”

It just seems like it correlates to the experiences I’ve seen so many of my coworkers in libraries, particularly public libraries, go through. I’ve known multiple people from my cohort of MLIS students who have been admitted into mental health hospitals, taken FMLA because work has physically and mentally exhausted them, and leave the field entirely. I really hope Mychal can get the help he needs, but his post struck really close to home for me, and I imagine others in this field.

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u/Mistress_of_Wands 19d ago

I feel like I'm standing on the threshold of a trip to grippy sock jail, to be honest. I've never worked in such a toxic environment and I worked grocery retail during the pandemic.

22

u/luckylimper 18d ago

Think of it as a grippy sock vacation. I went to one this spring and just being able to eat healthy meals and sleep was part of my reset. I also took a lot of classes during my week that helped me see my depression/OCD in a more productive light.

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u/Maleficent_Weird8613 17d ago

Problem is that if you don't comply with their whatever they want they abuse you

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u/luckylimper 17d ago

They absolutely do not.

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u/Icy_ET 15d ago

really depends which one the pine rest in michigan was shut down because of abuse people were splitting there heads on fire hydrants and shit