Ring in the New Year
MEDICAL AND MENTAL HEALTH UPDATE
Today I’ll spare you any quaint summary about lessons learned in 2020. I’ll refrain from sticky-sweet statements like “what does not kill you makes you stronger.” I won’t try to tie the misery of 2020 into a bow.
Indeed this has been a brutal year. Political unrest, ongoing racial injustice, and a global pandemic have brought us to our knees. We’ve lost lives, livelihoods, and life as we once knew it. We are grieving and licking our wounds. Even worse is that we’re alone at the very moments we need connection the most.
So even in my ever-optimistic mind, there’s no role for sugar-coating the ongoing death and destruction from COVID-19, particularly when it’s nowhere close to being over.
At the same time, hope is alive. But how, you might ask, can that be? How can we find hope when people are dying, we’re collectively traumatized, and no one can predict when we’ll get back to normal?
Well, there’s plenty of data to remind us that we can have hope. We’ve earned it. So let’s soak in these facts:
Science has our back. Vaccines are here. More of them—and further treatments for sick COVID patients—are on the way. Ten months into the pandemic, we know a hell of a lot about coronavirus and are infinitely better at treating our sickest patients.
Our bodies fight for us. While thousands are dying from COVID-19, most patients are fully recovering thanks to their own immune system.
Our minds are expanding, even in crisis. Even though anxiety is high, many are using this moment to self-reflect and improve their health. Take one of my Facebook followers who bravely reached out to me this summer. For the first time in her life, she is facing her history of childhood trauma, removing the veil of shame, and asking for help. It took the trauma of the pandemic for her to recognize her lifetime of fear.
Kindness is everywhere. Despite what we read in the news, people are doing good things for each other. Take my recovered COVID patients who are donating their plasma to sick patients. Take my grief counselor friends who are working pro-bono and overtime to help soothe the wounded souls of people who’ve lost loved ones to COVID-19. Take my medical colleagues working in ICUs in Boston, New York, Baltimore, LA, and DC who are holding the hands of dying patients, offering sips of humanity in desperate times.
The universe is looking out for us, too. You and I have been through trauma before. We are familiar with pain, suffering, and loss. And yet we’ve made it to today. We’ve made it through 366 full days of 2020 (it’s a leap year; we’ve endured one extra day of 2020 and we’re still here to tell about it). I even found this hat while buying groceries at the Giant this afternoon!
Let’s not let the turbulence at the water’s surface distract us from the ocean of strength we carry inside us. We’ve been through a lot together, and we’ll get through this, too.
I will see you in the New Year. Until then, be well.