There is so much to say. And also nothing. I’m tired. Not like the physically exhausted you get from doing too much or staying out late. I’m soul tired. And also really fucking angry. And that’s as we would say in the psych business, an appropriate response. A friend recently said to me, “well, I don't know about you, but I plan on dying angry.” And I totally get that. I have been struggling with my responsibility as a mental health advocate in what to say or what to post when people’s lives are put so directly in harm's way. Whether it’s guns or restrictions on healthcare, war, or equal rights. And sadly, I haven't had the energy to...
With JOY IS NOW on break until March 20, I thought I'd use this time to adventure in my favorite realm of wide focus. I live by the act of wide focus and thinking from a place of wide focus is something I learned from my study of psychoanalysis. Even in science, exists the capacity to create space and potential in the abstract realm. And this assumed dichotomy between science and the abstract is one of my favorite things about the study of human emotion and behavior. With psychology there is always the opportunity to gather more information from a shift in perspective. Amen. I'm calling this adventure of wide focus the In Between. Let's go. NO THANKS...
THE TRUTH On Thursday, US surgeon general Vivek Murthy released a 53 page report detailing the current adolescent mental health crisis. And it is grim. In fact, we've moved past crisis to full on emergency. Included in the report (you can read the NYTimes synopsis HERE) was the following, which I hope you will really let sink in for a moment. “In the United States, emergency room visits for suicide attempts rose 51 percent for adolescent girls in early 2021 as compared to the same period in 2019. The figure rose 4 percent for boys.” We are losing girls. Also boys, but a staggering amount of girls to mental health crisis. This begs the question, why? And I've...
