Perspectives

I learned a new word the other day: “doomscrolling”, defined as “the act of endlessly scrolling down one’s news apps, Twitter, and social media and reading bad news,” by Ariane Ling, PhD, a psychologist and clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at NYU Langone Health in New York.

My name is Eric, and I’m a doomscroller. Twitter is my drug of choice. Well, I’m probably not a hardcore, down-and-out, gutter doomscroller - but guilty enough nonetheless.

If anything is clear about “pandemic times”, it’s that we are living with profound uncertainty. None of us imagined the pandemic six months ago, and much of what we hoped about its course and impact has been upended. It’s now clear that the disease in the US is different and worse than in most other countries. The ability to tolerate uncertainty, anxiety and adversity is resilience. How can individuals muster resilience in this mess?

I have been astonished that the Civil War, now over for 155 years, has emerged as a major theme within the unfolding civic upheaval over white supremacy

My intention this week is to offer some thoughts and resources to those facing or threatened with job loss as the unemployment rate in the United States nears 25%…

I’ve been surprised by the amount of good counsel that’s flowed into my inbox these days: either I’ve gotten more discerning, or the crisis is stimulating a lot of hard and generative thinking about how to productively adapt…

Safety is on everyone’s mind these days but it is a concept with many sides to it, the most obvious of which is: I hope that you and your loved ones are safe. As we all know, many are not. Some of you are on the front lines of caring for those afflicted. You’re particularly in my thoughts, and so are those of you that are working, directly or indirectly, on new diagnostics and therapeutics for this new disease…

I hope you’re navigating another week of lockdown / isolation / Zoom meetings / home schooling / frantic and nerve-wracking clinical responsibilities. Thinking of all of you, have had the opportunity to connect with some, and although I am sure that you are all quite inundated not only with professional and home responsibilities, I thought I would offer these in the hope that they might bring a slightly different and hopefully helpful perspective to bear on our current situation…

I’m drawing your attention to a couple of articles that I’ve found insightful in the current crisis. I cannot say that I know the authors' future predictions are correct or that the recommendations are right for you. You all have complex and demanding professional obligations, and family and personal lives that need your attention now more than ever. There is no formula or guru who can determine what is right for you…