Thank you, Dr. Lucy for your clear and compassionate health information! I deeply appreciate the update on Covid 19 and will share it with others. A fear of dying from Covid 19 was a large part of the pandemic originally, and it remains a serious aspect during the endemic for the most vulnerable. So, I believe the pandemic also brought to light our lack of understanding and acceptance of death. I believe we really need widespread, public conversations about death and dying, and real assistance in learning both how to live while we're still alive, and how to accept and prepare for our own and others' deaths physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Maybe you could interview a death doula and/or hospice chaplain and share information and aspects of both positive and negative death experiences to illustrate we may have some choice about how we and/or our loved ones will die. I know both kinds of experiences, from family experiences and definitely prefer the former, but really have nowhere easily accessible to talk about this. No one, anywhere, has ever offered any information, insight, or experience with death without my seeking or asking. I believe teachers, medical personnel, all kinds of therapists, and both religious and spiritual leaders need to become knowledgeable and comfortable teaching and talking about death. And then, let's also talk about how to prevent and/or heal the specific trauma and grief of dying and/or losing a loved one to death. Thanks for asking for comments! Thia
Talk about mental health! People like you are lifesavers with your common sense and spot on thoughts about so many aspects of our pandemic experience! Can you talk more about your thoughts on testing with no symptoms and any reliable information about contagiousness when asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic? This has been one the most distressing triggers of anxiety and keeps many people stuck and afraid to resume much needed social interaction. We never thought about feeling fine and potentially harming others before the fear-fueling public information super-spreading! Thank you!
Thanks Jeannie, for the kind words. Here is the short story about asymptomatic testing in the vaccine era of spring 2023 - it's just not necessary as a general practice. On an individual basis, a rapid test can tell you if you have contagious levels of virus in your nose, so if you need to be around someone high risk you might want to take a rapid test before encountering that person.
That said, now that the vast majority of Americans have some immune protection due to vax or past infection or both, asymptomatic transmission has been diminished. It will never be zero, though!
Living with that uncertainty is what drives ppl's anxiety, but uncertainty is part of the deal of being human :)
Thank you, Dr. Lucy for your clear and compassionate health information! I deeply appreciate the update on Covid 19 and will share it with others. A fear of dying from Covid 19 was a large part of the pandemic originally, and it remains a serious aspect during the endemic for the most vulnerable. So, I believe the pandemic also brought to light our lack of understanding and acceptance of death. I believe we really need widespread, public conversations about death and dying, and real assistance in learning both how to live while we're still alive, and how to accept and prepare for our own and others' deaths physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. Maybe you could interview a death doula and/or hospice chaplain and share information and aspects of both positive and negative death experiences to illustrate we may have some choice about how we and/or our loved ones will die. I know both kinds of experiences, from family experiences and definitely prefer the former, but really have nowhere easily accessible to talk about this. No one, anywhere, has ever offered any information, insight, or experience with death without my seeking or asking. I believe teachers, medical personnel, all kinds of therapists, and both religious and spiritual leaders need to become knowledgeable and comfortable teaching and talking about death. And then, let's also talk about how to prevent and/or heal the specific trauma and grief of dying and/or losing a loved one to death. Thanks for asking for comments! Thia
I really appreciate your note, Thia. And I couldn't agree w you more that we don't talk about death and dying as much as we should. As you prob agree, talking about dying is really a conversation about living with intention - and it can help frame our goals, wishes, and everyday health decisions. I did a podcast with end-of-life specialist Sunita Puri MD here https://open.substack.com/pub/lucymcbride/p/dr-sunita-puri-on-dying-with-dignity-e4d?r=1p5bs4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web ... I also wrote about end-of-life decisions here https://open.substack.com/pub/lucymcbride/p/invisible-suffering-five-things-you?r=1p5bs4&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web ... but more to come!
Thank you for replying, for the link, and for more to come!
Talk about mental health! People like you are lifesavers with your common sense and spot on thoughts about so many aspects of our pandemic experience! Can you talk more about your thoughts on testing with no symptoms and any reliable information about contagiousness when asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic? This has been one the most distressing triggers of anxiety and keeps many people stuck and afraid to resume much needed social interaction. We never thought about feeling fine and potentially harming others before the fear-fueling public information super-spreading! Thank you!
Thanks Jeannie, for the kind words. Here is the short story about asymptomatic testing in the vaccine era of spring 2023 - it's just not necessary as a general practice. On an individual basis, a rapid test can tell you if you have contagious levels of virus in your nose, so if you need to be around someone high risk you might want to take a rapid test before encountering that person.
That said, now that the vast majority of Americans have some immune protection due to vax or past infection or both, asymptomatic transmission has been diminished. It will never be zero, though!
Living with that uncertainty is what drives ppl's anxiety, but uncertainty is part of the deal of being human :)