Welcome to the April issue of WonderWell, a newsletter intended to gather the most groundbreaking research and insightful commentaries in evidence-based medicine, wellness, healthcare leadership, writing, and innovation to help you live and work in alignment with your purpose and well-being.
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Some things that had me wondering this month:
1. COVID and…
~Vaccine hesitancy. In December I wrote about a hypothesis on scarcity and social proof about potentially overcoming vaccine hesitancy. Recently the WSJ published data on vaccine hesitancy, which appears to be going down on several states — could it be secondary to scarcity and social proof? And what *might* it mean for vaccine hesitancy in general?
~The politics behind pandemics. This, from the New Yorker is an excellent review of Baylor Medicine’s Dr. Peter Hoetz latest book, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and a great reflection on a remarkable career in infectious diseases/global health.
~Design. COVID has impacted the design world in unique way, in the New York Times .
2. Podcasts to listen to:
The On Being podcast is a favorite. Recently host Krista Tippett interviewed psychologist Christine Ryntab about how our mental health has been affected by the pandemic.
Part 1 (covers mastery vs success) and Part 2 (covers a beautiful term called “aesthetic force”) where Brene Brown, for her Daring Leadership podast, interviews Harvard’s Dr Sarah Lewis. It might be the best set of interviews I’ve listened to in years. It will nourish you and inspire you (and i’m currently listening to Lewis’ gorgeous book The Rise, on audiobook).
I’ve been listening to poet and musician Morgan Harper Nichols daily for the last 2 weeks. Her 3-12 min episodes are beautiful reflections which leave you with a question. Nichols’ voice alone is incredible, and her instagram account covers her artwork as well. She’s a rising star to watch.
Some of my recent favorites have been on trusting despite the uncertainty, on our purpose (with lovely) a river analogy, and 7 phrases to help with future worries.
3.On…forecasting and expertise
This is from the archives of the Atlantic, by the incredible David Epstein (his book Range is a must-read). Here, citing Philip Tetlock’s work, he calls into question ‘expertise’ — indeed it must be a balance. We need experts to guide us, but non-experts help us identify blind-spots. This is a topic I’ve been thinking about a LOT with the pandemic. I’m now left thinking it’s more of an ‘amplification problem.’ Perhaps, with COVID, given the amount of uncertainty and the fast-moving nature of science, the media tends to rely on experts to self-identify. This then leads to many ‘non-experts’ (confident but incompetent, at least as it relates to medicine and public health), who *should* be part of the discussion, but shouldn’t be amplified, get amplified the media.
Recently an economist at Brown received immense criticism (here, here , here, and here, but really — there were lots of important points made) for an article about childhood COVID transmission. It was inaccurate and simply unwise, as many physicians and epidemiologists identified, but it likely wasn’t intentionally so. The simplest explanation: economists and epidemiologists look at data and value various factors *differently.* As an economist, her views could add to the discussion — it may just be that they should not have been amplified in that fashion, as it drowned out the current recommendations and expert forecasts. It was quickly debunked but the harm cannot be underestimated. Reporters, and others without expertise but who write about a subject, are expected to incorporate expertise into their pieces, in order to report out an issue fairly and accurately. It’s possible that this economist may have avoided the controversy by interviewing epidemiologists in a “reported op-ed” (one that isn’t solely her opinion), as opposed to writing an op-ed from her point of view as, effectively, a non-expert in public health. Perhaps an article on the economic impacts of COVID or how an economist may *think* through the challenge of lockdowns would have been more appropriate.
We must amplify experts who are truly able to comment on the pandemic and make recommendations, and not simply allow the loudest voices (in the room or on Twitter) to prevail. This, ultimately, causes harm to public understanding, and influences behavior in a way that ultimately negatively impacts how the pandemic is handled. Editors and producers, therefore, must also be equally discerning when commissioning op-eds from academics, and ensure their expertise lines up with the subject matter.
4.Sound (and wise) reflections
~A former incarcerated man reflects on solitary confinement — which he suffered through for 18 years — in NYTOpinion
~The challenge of bullying in healthcare, in the Financial Post
~The role of trauma in gun violence, in the NYTOpinion
~There were many great pieces about anti-asian violence. This Q+A in the New Yorker and this op-ed by National Book Award winner, Charles Yu, in the LATimes are worth a read
5.Miscellany
~From the LATimes, the things migrants carried and dropped on their trek across the border for a better life
~The incomparable Dr Eric Topol, for the WSJ, on how science accelerated over the last 13 months
~The plight of child caregivers, in the LATimes
~In the NYT, the incredible life of one of my favorite writers as a child — Beverley Cleary
~One of the best personal essays I’ve read in months, in the Washington Post, about medical error, second opinions, and the limits of medical ‘expertise’
6.Best tweet of the month goes to…
A Three-WAY tie:
This thread is inspiring (it’s worth reading in its entirety).
@JouLee:
We think strength is self-sufficiency— achievement without reliance on others. We think that if someone else gains, we lose. But intertwined, we all go further. This is the secret of Silicon Valley. Help others, ask for help, and collective strength multiplies.
@gradydoctor:
Reflecting on these statements from 2 good friends in academic medicine this week: 1. “There HAS to be a consequence between nothing and professional death.” 2. “Healing HAS to include restorative justice–which begins with accountability.” Yeah. That part.
In My Own Words…
This was a month with lots of writing, and the next few weeks will be dedicated to my book revisions (due in 3 wks!). For Medium‘s Coronavirus vertical, I wrote a primer about the AstraZeneca vaccine, clots, and concerns about causality. For Elemental, I examined the role of prayer in healing, inspired by the story of Molly (that many of us were inspired by in February). Last, for Wired I tackled an issue that has been on my mind for many weeks: the puzzle of pandemic prognostication (and why some see things through an optimistic lens, whereas others are more concerned) — I make mention of epistemic trust and the issue I discuss above (point #3).
Also, a personal one from the archive (2017), about my grandfather, who has been on my mind late, in Hektoen International.
My time in Vancouver is soon coming to an end (as, sadly, variants are taking hold). It has been such an incredible place, with so much natural beauty, to spend time in over the last 8 months.
Have a healthy, joyful, month,
Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D., M.H.S.
March 2021
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Welcome to the March issue of WonderWell, a newsletter intended to gather the most groundbreaking research and insightful commentaries in evidence-based medicine, wellness, healthcare leadership, writing, and innovation to help you live and work in alignment with your purpose and well-being
“Two days, Two seasons” (Kitsilano, Vancouver BC, February 14th vs February 13th, 2021)
Some things that had me wondering this month:
1. COVID and…
~A new vaccine. The Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine is now available in the US (hopefully in Canada soon). How does it stack up against Moderna and Pfizer (and AstraZeneca)? This might be the wrong question when scarcity is at play: take what you get, as this NYT op-ed advises. Remember: the vaccine is intended to prevent severe disease, i.e. disease that would require a hospitalization/ICU visit or worse: death. It may not be perfectly effective at preventing infection. The flu vaccine is similar, though often has much lower effectiveness. But in general, those vaccinated with the flu vaccine are at a much lower risk of severe disease, even if they do have mild flu symptoms.
~Vaccine diplomacy. This will continue to be a topic to watch closely, and one I’ve been pondering since the Summer when I received a press release about an Indian manufacturer planning to ramp up production of a vaccine (which ended up being the Astra Zeneca vaccine). India specifically has played a major role over the last 15 years in terms of drug manufacturing: especially as it relates to anti-retroviral drugs, and facilitating a price drop which improved global access. India has manufactured vaccines for global health (e.g. polio) as distributed by organizations like GAVI, WHO, UNICEF, etc. But this is the first time to my knowledge that India is playing a role in manufacturing vaccines for the ‘developed’ world. So not only is Jamaica receiving shipments, but so is Canada. The editors of the NYT Opinion section penned an excellent op-ed on the theme here. My question: will India then be able to leverage other interests (e.g. politically, trade/economic) with recipient countries? And what are the potential pitfalls and opportunities? A handy comparison: the role China played in providing PPE to affected countries, and the potential downside regarding accountability as it relates to investigations into the virus origins in the country.
~On reopening schools. It remains a tricky debate. I like Dr Leana Wen’s take in the Washington Post. Side note: I spent my 32nd birthday in Charleston, and Dr Wen happened to be there (story for another time, but she’s fabulous!)
~ Screening for health conditions. There’s no doubt that there are several externalities secondary to the pandemic. One big one that doesn’t get discussed enough: the negative impact on screening. This piece, in the NYT, tackles it head on.
~Children. A well presented and reported piece on the youngest victims of the pandemic in the Post — even if children rarely suffer from severe disease, they are impacted in other long-lasting ways.
~The best essay I’ve read (about COVID since the pandemic began), by none other than Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee. This one is about the mystery behind the low death rate in India in the New Yorker (followup with my favourite New Yorker piece period, from 2017, Cancer’s Invasion Equation, also by Dr. Mukherjee)
2. Podcasts to listen to:
This episode of Brene Brown’s podcast features one of my favorite thinkers, Adam Grant.
Here they interview each other in a sense, and Grant gets into the topic of his latest book, “Think Again,” while also sharing a variety of anecdotes about his career and life decisions.
And because she’s utterly delightful, Fran Lebowitz interviewed by Kara Swisher on Sway is well worth the laughs and incredulity, if only for her line comparing herself to Helen Keller.
3.On…systemic racism in the 1950s and 2021
~Harry Jerome is a Canadian that I, and many others, never learned about in school. As a Black man attending a mostly all-white school in Vancouver in the 1950s, he had rocks hurled at him. His story of that time is captured here, in the CBC. A track star that went on to set several world records, Jerome sadly died in 1982. Now Vancouver is finding a way to honor him.
~This is an important read from StatNews‘ Theresa Gaffey, about a big story that was trending on Twitter earlier in February. A program director, who happened to be a Black woman, was dismissed from her position after flagging issues of systemic racism. This topic in general is a sad and very real issue in academic medicine, affecting residents, but also, clearly, staff as well. Of note, Gaffey is a multimedia producer but I hope she stays on this beat (medical education) as this article was so well reported, covering the nuances particularly well.
~And for GQ, the incomparable Wesley Lowery on how one police department, in Ithaca, New York is attempting reform. It may be a model for others.
4.Sound (and wise) reflections
~From NYTMag, this profile of Kazuo Ishiguro is simply sublime. What a brilliant mind
~The type of love that makes you happiest, in the Atlantic
~From ESPN, on injury and resilience, through the story of basketball player Azzi Fudd
~One of the most harmful questions you can ask children, by Adam Grant for CNBC
5.Miscellany
~From NYTOpinion about nurses, and what the pandemic means for the future of nursing. We rarely hear from other frontline workers (other than physicians), so this was illuminating for me. That said, someone on Twitter, who happens to be a nurse, flagged to me that that article was not inclusive, and my sharing of it failed to amplify this issue. And, well, I agree (I have my own blindspots). That opinion piece did not include the fact that in many cities most hard hit, nurses of color (mostly women) have disproportionately been affected. So I also share this article, in CNN: about the toll on Filipino nurses in particular, though the same may be said of Caribbean-American nurses, Latin-American nurses, and so forth. It also reminded me of why I mentor with the Op-Ed project, to help ensure that under-represented voices get heard.
~The tragic story of Joe Ligon, which broke my heart and I *still* can’t wrap my head around: to be captive for THAT many years, and now released. Unimaginable.
~The death of groundbreaking cancer researcher, Dr. Emil Freireich hits hard for anyone in pediatric medicine. He was a trailblazer to say the least, and highly disagreeable in his approach as a pediatric oncologist and researcher. He didn’t care much for the status quo: his focus was on finding a treatment for childhood leukemia, which he did. His obituary in the NYT is a must read.
6.Best tweet of the month goes to…
A compelling speech by Ryan Leaf, about the NFL’s failure to acknowledge mental health issues. As I write this another former player, Louis Nix, has died (though the cause has not been confirmed).
I don’t know who needs to hear this, or if I just needed to say it, but I will not continue to stand by and watch my brothers disappear because the multi billion $$$ corporation won’t do the right thing.
@nfl @NFLPA do something!! #igoturback #nflbrotherhood
And a thread by the incredible writer and musician Morgan Harper Nichols, about her recent diagnosis of autism, as a reminder of how women are often diagnosed late, or misdiagnosed:
Last Saturday, after a very long journey, I was officially diagnosed with autism and I just want to share my experiences here for anyone else out there whom it could help (a lengthy thread)
In My Own Words…
My lockdown obsession: colorful heritage hen eggs by Black Rooster Farms, Langley BC
January 2021 (these aren’t painted by the way– the colors are REAL!)
This month, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by influencer Camille Styles, on finding our purpose. I also participated in the “SoMeDocs writers conference” which was really fun (some great questions).
Other than that, I’m knee deep in book edits, with revisions due in April, and polishing off a textbook chapter I’m co-writing with a friend and colleague, Dr. Daniel Lakoff (emergency medicine physician with NYP Hospitals). I will have a piece out next week, which I’ll include in next month’s newsletter.
To end I’d like to highlight Andre Picard’s book on elder care arrived this week, and is timely and important. For my American readers: Picard is a must follow, as arguably the most prominent health journalist in Canada, and longstanding columnist for the Globe and Mail. He shares his commentary thoughtfully and wisely.
Have a healthy, joyful, month,
Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D., M.H.S.
February 2021
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Welcome to the February issue of WonderWell, a newsletter intended to gather the most groundbreaking research and insightful commentaries in evidence-based medicine, wellness, healthcare leadership, writing, and innovation to help you live and work in alignment with your purpose and well-being.
This is jam-packed with many things that had me wondering this month:
1. COVID and…
~Vaccine distribution. Logistics remains a big issue. Now we’re looking at optimizing vials and syringes. I enjoyed this piece in the NYT, which suggests ramping up the speed of vaccination, and focusing on priority groups
~How the most marginalized will almost always bear the larger brunt of the burden when it comes to most health concerns, in this case a global pandemic. This is a very sad story about a teen, who happened to be a Syrian refugee, who died from COVID after likely being exposed during his work in a longterm care home.
~A beautiful brief reflection (part of a newsletter) on how a journalist treked across the U.S. to ensure his mother got the vaccine roadtrip
~The WashPo published this, a deep reflection with Dr. Stanley Plotkin, who happens to be a LEGEND in public health and vaccinology — his name appeared most frequently (to my recollection) during our vaccinology modules at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
~February is Black History Month, and a colleague and friend Dr. Uche Blackstock, along with her twin sister, described the inequities around vaccine rates, also in the WashPo.
~Jay Caspian Kang on why San Francisco may have been better equipped and prepared than other cities, in the New Yorker.
2. Podcast to listen to:
This episode from the Tara Brach podcast is excellent. I read Brach’s book “Radical Acceptance” last year, and just finished “Radical Compassion” which is even better.
As well, Kara Swisher has been hitting it out of the park lately, on Sway. Her episode with a Parler cofounder was slightly shocking (in an illuminating way) but her interview with Isabel Wilkerson was particularly excellent.
3.On…how to disagree better
This is a topic I’ve been thinking about for years and its more crucial during these divisive ties. In 2017 I wrote about the topic for the Walrus. Now the great Adam Grant has a new book out call Think Again (link to purchase here). His article in the New York Times serves as a wonderful appetizer. Another book to add to the list, on this topic, is Buster Benson’s Why are We Yelling? which was the best book I read in 2020.
4.Sound (and wise) reflections
~From the New Yorker, an interview between Isaac Chotiner and two experts from Turkey about how developing countries are navigating access to the COVID vaccine, and how more economically stable countries should lift their weight. I always enjoy Isaac’s interviews because he doesn’t hold back, and asks the questions most of us *want* to ask but might not.
~In the New Yorker again, a deeply vulnerable piece about opioid addiction and its toll on young people and families, from the journalist, Masha Gessen, herself.
~In the Atlantic, how your well-being is linked to where you choose to live — Arthur Brooks’ columns have been insightful and deeply relevant for these times
5.Miscellany
~For Black history month, this article on the experience of a black female interventional cardiologist, published by Canada’s CTV news is a must-read, especially as it gets to the ‘double burden’ of being a person of color and a woman in medicine, and the systemic challenges (e.g. microaggressions) she and many others have faced. Couple this with an excellent editorial in the CMAJ about why anti-racism should be a professional competence.
~The link between workplace culture and well-being is crucial to understand, and it’s a link I’m particularly interested in (if we can improve culture we will make major leaps as it relates to thriving — we spend most of our time at work!). This article, in the CBC was a powerful investigative piece into how this issue played out in one of Canada’s most important institutions — and underscored that women in power can *also* perpetuate harassment and abuse, a point that is too often ignored or overlooked. Undoubtedly, while Pyette has now resigned, she has done so only after leaving a trail of likely traumatized victims — in government, policing (those tasked to protect her were also allegedly abused), and employees at the Montreal Science Centre among others — behind, victims who may never see real justice. This piece, which is part of a series by CBC, also speaks to the power of journalism to push for accountability, specifically as it relates to workplace culture.
~Michael Lewis is one of the best storytellers of our time. There will be many “pandemic” books published in the coming year(s) but if I were to bet, his might be the best one, and this article about his track record of bringing us gripping stories is excellent.
~The result of the Capitol Hill riots in early January will bear out for years. We are seeing the ripple effects now. The suicide of a police officer days later for instance, and AOC recently shared the impact on her as well. Collective trauma is an under-discussed issue, as a recent tweet clearly illustrated to me recently.
~A year ago on January 26 2020 Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gigi, and six others died in a helicopter crash. Last week this article, by Mirin Fader, in The Ringer elucidates his legacy.
~Are you easily frustrated during the pandemic? Well this short video (as with most of his short videos) by Daniel Pink might provide some tips.
6.Best tweet of the month goes to…
A three-way tie!
A mother and lawyer who asked for prayers for her daughter Molly over Twitter:
Please. Please. Please. Everyone PRAY for my daughter Molly. She has been in an accident and suffered a brain trauma. She’s unconscious in ICU. Please RT and PRAY 🙏
Collective prayer, known as intercessory prayer has been studied extensively (the evidence isn’t great, as expected), but it was unique to see social media being used for this purpose. Would Molly have been ok otherwise? Possibly. But it was a nice moment to see a tweet like this go viral. I’m staying tuned on her progress and hope she has a swift recovery.
This tweet {hyperlinked} and {hyperlinked} encapsulate a big challenge for many writers: navigating community and the experience of envy and competition. These went viral for a reason! What I know for sure is that we live in an abundant world, and one person’s success doesn’t preclude your own. I’m grateful for the community of writers I hold dear, who inspire and motivate me.
And another, by Adam Grant, on curiosity:
The hallmark of curiosity is a thirst for knowledge that has no obvious utility. Being a lifelong learner is taking joy in exploration regardless of whether the discovery has immediate relevance. The goal is to understand for the sake of understanding.
In My Own Words…
This month, I had the pleasure of interviewing two companies for my blog on the intersection between tech and well-being. Joy Ventures invests and incubates primarily in tech companies that are committed to health and wellbeing. LongWalks is an app that connects people around a common daily prompt, while encouraging guided reflections which can then be shared with the community (or kept private).
As well, as part of my work as a mentor-editor with the OpEdProject, I edited this excellent article by a palliative care physician from Columbia University and the director of the Center for Bioethics and Health Law at the University of Pittsburgh, for the Hastings Center on vaccine distribution
I can also finally share that in December I was approached by Twitter to consult on a really interesting initiative to improve the health of the platform. We’ve seen so much strife happen on social media, but these platforms, if designed a bit differently, can also be a tool we can use to connect and empathize, perhaps more so during a pandemic. It’s an honour to be part of these efforts.
Have a healthy, joyful, month,
Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D., M.H.S.
A series of interviews with pioneers bringing the world of wellness and technology to make meaningful change.
From her work on the initial Sephora team to her experiences in manufacturing, consulting, and brand strategy for companies like Gap Inc., Cisco, and Landor, Melody Mortazavi has been passionate about creating brands her entire career. Mortazavi is an entrepreneur who believes in the power of connection, and she founded UME in Menlo Park with that vision in mind. After UME was acquired, Mortazavi continued to pursue her love of brands and human connection by co-founding Longwalks with Trishla Jain.
Trishla Jain is an author, artist, and entrepreneur. Throughout her career, Trishla’s work has focused on helping people communicate and connect mindfully. She is an author of a mindful children’s book series and an accomplished artist with exhibitions exploring the intersection of joy, gratitude, and minimalism. Trishla sought to build a better way to spark meaningful conversations and deepen personal relationships online, co-founding Longwalks with Melody Mortazavi.
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Amitha: So I downloaded Longwalks back in December, and I can’t remember where I had first heard about it – it might have been through Oprah magazine or a tweet she posted? It’s so well designed, and I love the concept. What got you motivated to create it? And what spurred the interest in well-being and self-care?
Melody: I think that we approached this in a very personal way to start with. We (Trishla and I) met quite serendipitously, and she had invited me to a conversation, sort of a Jeffersonian type dinner, at her home, where she had crafted a really beautiful conversation for the evening. The conversation was designed to bring 10 women together who had never met before in the most optimal way possible. And yes, that's very “Silicon Valley,” but like everywhere else in the world we're all quite pressed for time and so she wanted to create the perfect environment for us to really get to know each other. And that meant getting to know each other outside of what we do or what our significant others do or where our children go to school, which are the typical things you generally hear from each other when you first get to know someone. There was a question that was posed about a poem that grounded the conversation, and each person just shared, one at a time, as we went around the table, about a story that that poem reminded them of. It was a very new way to have a conversation because you actually got to sit there and really listen to what the other person was saying. And then when it was your turn, you could speak essentially your truth. And so, this form of uninterrupted one-direction type of sharing was really beautiful. It was really transformative for me, and I had never been in a conversation with someone else or a group of people where I didn't actually have to work very hard to keep the conversation going. And this was just a really beautiful way of connecting with other people at the table, and after the third or fourth time we had done this, I started thinking about the ways people are connecting with each other now digitally. So we started thinking about how to deliver this same sort of experience to others. I think, when social media was designed and developed, people didn't really think about the negative impact on mental health. They didn't think about the impact on people's relationships or attention spans, and all the things that you very well know. So we embarked on this very ambitious mission of creating a truly supportive and kind social platform where people can share their stories in a way that I was alluding to, to really tell the things about themselves that really matter to them and make up who they are: like the really the good juicy stuff of who you are. And so I think what we did really beautifully was really utilize psychology, Eastern philosophy and a lot of really mindful meditation practices to create a platform that not only provides the content that's that really helps people connect, but also create this really beautiful safe space which we hear about time and time again.
Trishla: I mean your question was really why we started Longwalks, and in essence I think the quality of our human relationships, the depth and intimacy of them is one of the primary indicators of lifelong long-lasting happiness and kind of what the Harvard Study of Adult Development says.
When you look back, a fulfilled life is one with beautiful deep relationships. So that's really kind of the vector where we wanted to focus. It all came together in this beautiful way. And the way Longwalks is really different is that in some sense it's not open-ended, unlike every other social platform where you can kind of share whatever it is you want to share, using various formats. We've really created a little bit of a cocoon around the user using our prompt. So, we provide one single piece of content, which is a fill-in-the blank question every day. And that's it. It's very simple. It's very equalizing pretty much being a human. I've had a lot families say that they do it with their kids. They do it on their phone with adults and then at night they use it at the dinner table, and they make all their little kids like six year old, seven year old, kids fill it out. So it’s kind of just like a moment where you get to share something and then we anchor we map out the whole year. In 365 days we kind of cover a large aspect of what the human experience. And it's beautiful because you don't really have to think about what you're sharing and get yet if you're doing this with people on the platform. You get to experience humanity and living together.
I think that I've been practicing this formula of sort of asking a question and then making everyone answer it in the fill-in-the-blank model for a very long time, since high school, so it's just kind of my modus operandi. This was the first time I had kind of done this in Silicon Valley and Melody happened to be there, and then with serendipity, one thing led to the other and in 2017 Melody started to think of this as like a full-fledged business rather than just a private kind of experience with friends, but by then we must have had over, 250 of such dinners like that. And the digital format kind of coincided with COVID, even though it started way before COVID it just, there's so there's a lot of serendipity in our journey.
Melody: What matters is that the question has to be supportive enough for people to want to access that as a nugget to share it with somebody else, so 2017 was a year of focus grouping, really, essentially, and then figuring out how we want to how we want to deliver this what it would look like, as a feeling to bottle up. I think one of the beautiful parts of the digital platform is that you can have that feeling with someone, all the way across the world, who has like a completely different socio economic background is of a different race and gender and every everything is different about them, but you can actually have that exchange of that feeling with that person. And that's what's happened to me a lot -- I've randomly met probably 20 or 30 people who are now my friends on Longwalks, that I share with, and I don't even know where they live!
Amitha: That's amazing. I was just talking to someone about on most apps or social media there aren’t really incentives to be civil. And I’ve likened it to a dinner party, where if you aren’t civil, even if you have opposing views, you won’t get invited again. But there’s this feeling where it's almost invigorating when you have a really interesting discussion or debate, or you know that feeling of being connected. So you're, totally right – it’s super hard to get that online with a lot of the apps that are out there right now that are being used.
Trishla: I read that you're also Yogi and you love yoga. And I think with Longwalks it’s that synchronicity that sometimes gets missed. Like when you're in a yoga class, the entire class is participating in a series of motions, everybody's on the same page and moving together. And that creates a very harmonious flow. It's not like everybody's doing their own thing. One of the most unique things about our platform is that everybody's doing the same ‘pose’ as in answering the same prompt. So you feel you're not alone, like you're just all different rays of the same sun.
Amitha: I love that analogy. So the actual digital element was that rolled out in 2020 then you're saying just around the pandemic?
Melody: The first version of the app was launched in August of 2018. We had been working towards a solution for a couple years before the pandemic hit.. What we've done really mindfully is that we are building this app for our users, and we have a big cohort of users who really love this app. And so we build and we iterate based on their needs, that you know of course are aligned with, with the mission. So we have taken quite a few updates and changes to the app in order to best align with our with our users, and when COVID happened and we all went into lockdown in March, had just launched our best MVP (minimum viable product) to date. And so we saw this really beautiful alignment of user with product. And that's when we had a significant uptake in users, and we have really great App Store reviews that are all organic and just people's real experiences. So, the alignment was really great, during a time where it was so uncertain for everybody. We were providing a tool that was helping people feel better. That was helping people feel connected to each other not as far apart, was giving them something to anchor their daily practices so that they could answer something with the people in their lives. And it was really helping them stay close to the people they couldn't be close to. And so that really gave us a whole big lift in order to kind of keep going and keep building and keep doing what we're doing
Amitha: Why the name Longwalks?
Trishla: Many reasons. Some of them are practical, you know, in the sense of wanting to have a name that's unique and all of that, but really Melody and I are just nature lovers who love to walk and we think of human relationships as kind of like walking hand in hand. And we think that sometimes the best conversations you can have is when you're on a long walk with a friend. Because the conversation just organically flows, and you're enjoying the earth, so there's many different kind of connotations. I don't know -- Melody what does the name mean exactly?
Melody: I will just embellish a little bit more in that I think that the experience we try to mimic on Longwalks, is really that kind of those special moments that you have during a long walk, you know those really those heartfelt conversations that you really get to know people that's essentially I think what we hope toreplicate.
Amitha: How do you feel like, like how is the uptake been so you obviously launched in 2018, you were saying, um, have you seen an uptake. I mean, as I mentioned, I've heard about it. I think through either Oprah Magazine or something, some something over related.
Melody: She gave us a shout out! Oprah’s a gifted conversationalist and gifted person at making anybody feel important and worth listening to. And I think we've always just reached out to her along the way when we've needed guidance or calibration or just talking to someone whose life's work has been about helping people connect meaningfully.The shout out was definitely a big surprise to us- we had no idea it was coming. And I think I was on a long walk at the time because I hike a lot on the weekends, and our biggest concern was ‘oh my God are the server's gonna crash?’ Luckily they didn't and our tech team, they're all just incredible. So, it was a great shout out from her that kind of validated the experience that all the users were having. They were really grateful for Longwalks during a time where there wasn't a lot to be grateful for.
Amitha: Definitely. So have you found during this pandemic that uptake has increased like? Because apps are tough in terms of getting people to stay on them. But I think that what you're offering is unique, so I would hope that there's more people are more incentivized to like stick to it.
Melody: I mean I think that's where we started the conversation is ‘How do you have social wellness’ and ‘what does that even look like’ as in having a healthy relationship with this phone and the things we do on it. And I think that one thing we try to do as we definitely don't hold ourselves accountable to the same vanity metrics that other social companies, hold themselves accountable to. So for us time spent on app is measured a little bit differently for us, because it's important to have a depth of relationship. We don't make it about Facebook likes or friend counts or friends lists and things like that because it's just, it's a different platform it's a more niche platform and I think our goal is to empower the depth of relationships and authentic connections, and helping people find like-minded people on Longwalks. When we are looking at acquiring users we unfortunately have to use the same mediums that other people use, and do your standard performance marketing things but the way I sleep at night is to think that I am leveraging these other social media platforms to bring people to Longwalks. It’s a healthier and better way to communicate with the people that they want to communicate with.We don't expect to take over. So the time that you spend on Instagram or Facebook we just hope to kind of counterbalance it with things that fill your bucket and make you feel really good about the people that you're talking to.
Amitha: I'm sure you both watch The Social Dilemma. I'm sure it's not a surprise, in terms of what they presented, but do you have any thoughts on sort of how Longwalks fits in? I guess you've sort of answered that question as it being a buffer or counterbalance?
Trishla: Tristan is one of the early attendees to dinners. And at the end of the dinner he shared a very profound experience about his mother and said ‘I challenge you to bring this to tech as I've never seen it.’ And at the end of The Social Dilemma they pose a question, you know, as in ‘what is the solution?’ They don't offer solutions. So we really feel like Longwalks is very sustainable, because it only takes a few minutes maybe 5-10 minutes a day. It's a very sustainable solution to create social wellness in your life, using your phone.
Melody: I think it's just a really actionable solution. So that's how we think of it as well, in relation to The Social Dilemma, and Longwalks is literally designed as an antithesis to all of the problems of social media. So, it's designed to not feel like a popularity contest -- we don't display any kind of counts. We don't publicly display how many people have liked your post. We don't let you know how many friends people have or any kind of numerical things like that. The way that our commenting works is that it's pre-scripted to be extremely supportive and kind. So it really eliminates that culture of bullying or negative commenting that occurs in other platforms. It's very unified like I said and has synchronicity because everybody's on the same page and answering the same questions. You don't get a lot of distortion or distraction there's no ads. There, nobody's trying to sell you anything. So a lot of the problems associated with social media just don't happen on our Longwalks: we've created a situation where they won't happen. But we always have our eyes open, just to see if things are creeping into that territory.
Amitha: Do you feel you're also sort of self-selecting as well for people that are not going to be that way maybe?
Trishla: We have the very committed and sticky users who use both regular social media and Longwalks, and then there are of course the people who doing a detox off other social media, so only doing Longwalks. So we find that it works really for anyone who wants to have a kind of new social wellness habit in their day.
Amitha: Got it. And then so you were mentioning I mean it sounds like when you, when you mentioned like Tristan Harris, for example, it sounds like you're pretty plugged into the Silicon Valley community so I'm curious to know like what your, what both of your backgrounds are in in tech, like a different form of tech before you could work for, you know, big tech before this like without a motivator. Tell me a little bit about that.
Melody: I actually come from a retail background and brand strategy background but during the latest part of my career I worked for Cisco and I did Internet Business Solutions consulting so I do come from a slight tech background but my specialty is really optimizing retail solutions for consumers. And then after I got pregnant with my first child I didn't want to consult anymore. I was not going to get on a plane every week, and so I decided I came up with this idea for a children's play space, and this was at the time where there were no other really placed bases around, so we raised a seed round and opened a 15,000 square foot children's indoor play space in Menlo Park called U-Me, so that I could work, and do something with my brain but also bring my kids to work. And so I did that for about seven or eight years and then that was acquired. Then I decided to go back into the corporate world.
Amitha: I'm just trying to imagine what it would look like in Silicon Valley like a big play space I imagine all of the, all of the activities are planned intentional and…
Trishla: Very. It was so beautiful I mean she has an unbelievable eye for design, they have this kind of minimal Scandinavian aesthetic where everything had a purpose, there wasn't any like random stuff and it was really the child was at the center of the experience and the child could direct it to play very well so, and she used a lot of that learning. I can see how she applies that user experience design in Longwalks.
Amitha: What about you Trishla?
Trishla: I grew up in India, and my family runs the Times of India group. So I kind of grew up
enmeshed in those walls. And then I went to an American school and then I came to the U.S. for college (Stanford) during college and fell in love with English literature, so I had a circuitous path where [I then attended Columbia University to do graduate work in education then] worked in brand marketing in New York. And after that, I went back to India and just worked at times in different capacities, learning about print. And then also learning a lot about how to embark into the digital world. I did that, and then I became a full-time artist, which is kind of my deeper love, where I had three solo exhibitions in India while having children.
Amitha: What sort of art?
Trishla: Painting. But during that time, I would say my main real job is being a full time Yogi. I did so many maybe 50 silent retreats like Vipassana. Yeah. Even a few 60-day ones where I left my husband with my parents. And I think that was just a time of profound growth intellectually, emotionally, physically and every way. And then we both moved here to America about four years ago. But we were thinking of it as coming back to Stanford, where me and my husband met. He runs the digital business of Times of India. Tristan is really more of a Stanford connection than a Silicon Valley connection.
Amitha: Got it. It sounds like you've had some really interesting experiences, both in India as well as in the US, and that blending of Eastern and Western practices in the sense?
Trishla: When you have profound meditation, it's almost like you just want to give back to the world in whatever way you can and then I found Melody.
Amitha: Yes, serendipitously! I'm such a fan of serendipity and have noticed that in my life as well. So obviously you both women of color – Melody you have Persian (Iranian) heritage, and Trishla you were born in India. How does that sort of affect or impact your experience in Silicon Valley as founders, anything that you want to share about that, like, in terms of opportunities or barriers?
Melody: So I think that if I had to talk for a moment about whenever I feel inadequate or when I feel that maybe I am not. I am not on par with the audience that I'm keeping has not necessarily been ever because I'm a woman, I think, for me it has always been a feeling that because I don't come from that so called White, tech, engineer, or a certain pedigree, I think that feels very heavy for women. I think that there's a certain level of...I think Trishla and I just don’t let it get to us, otherwise it becomes very demoralizing. So I think we do a very good job of tuning those things out and really making it about the product that we're building, and the solution where it could do with the solution we're giving to people. And because we are in a space of wellness, it makes it a little bit more comfortable, but for sure I would say it's very hard to maintain your confidence and not feel adequate being in the Valley and being women who are not from a pure tech background.
Trishla: I think one of the things my dad always taught me is that you have to turn your disadvantages into your greatest advantages. So in some ways, I like to think of it as this idea that we're fresh blood, like we never think of a solution on the product the way a veteran Facebook person or someone who spent 10 years at Google. And I think being mothers what matters is we care so much about building a future for our children. So we both have two young children, each and Melody's kids are older and she sees them already interacting with social media, and she wants to create a new alternative, kind of like a different way for her daughter to portray herself in the world. One option is for her to take a beautiful picture glowing skin and maybe comment on how sunny and beautiful it is in California on Instagram, and the other is to talk about maybe something totally different, something meaningful or something she's focusing on or, which is more Longwalks’ aim.
Melody: And people gravitate towards Longwalks generally are pretty open minded.
Amitha: One the things I’ve noticed when about individuals that are trying to make a difference in healthcare, almost all of them are described themselves as like outsiders. So people that early in life might have felt like they needed to fit in for one reason or another, because of their background or their way of thinking or whatever but over time they realize that those differences were actually an asset, and that was what sort of fueled them to think differently and make changes because as you can appreciate health care and the health system which is a very antiquated system. But the people that are actually making change are the ones that can actually see the solutions because they have an outsider sort of perspective. And I think, you know, it's our perspective and I also think it's a bit of grit as well like if you're someone that's used to adapting but you're also sort of like you're maybe a little bit grittier as well. I think that that's super interesting that you both seem to identify with that as well. Was there anything that I didn't ask you that you think is really important.
Ok my last question! Because I have an epidemiology I'm always interested in research. Have you thought about looking at the data in terms of assessing how people are feeling using the app? Could it be an intervention or studied in some way in terms of short and long-term impacts on mental and emotional health? Or do you have a sense of this already?
Trishla: I would say intuitively, qualitatively, the feedback indicates a resounding yes, that people see a kind of marked uplift in their emotional states, reduction in depression, reduction in anxiety, and loneliness. However, it would be a dream come true I think for Melody and I to have that documented in a way that's actually scientific with rigor.
Melody: We're looking at a way actually to incorporate these questions into the user journey to get a sense of how it has impacted them and the main reason we wanted to do that was just so we can make sure that we are staying true to their needs and really able to satisfy kind of those things so we are looking into it right now. I think given the pandemic and everything that's happening, I just feel a little uneasy asking users to fill in those questions. But definitely I think going down the line, it’s something we will be doing.
November 2020
Welcome to the November issue of WonderWell, a newsletter intended to gather the most groundbreaking research and insightful commentaries in evidence-based medicine, wellness, healthcare leadership, writing, and innovation to help you live and work in alignment with your purpose and well-being.
***Please note that to access hyperlinks please subscribe**
CREDIT: Olivia Van Dyke/Tofino British Columbia/ October 2020
Some things that had me wondering this month:
1. COVID and…hidden patterns
Some rapid-fire wonderings:
~Published in the BMJ: a new hypothesis on face masks might be associated in falls in the elderly (and note, it’s well known that a hip fracture in an older person is significantly associated with mortality risk during the following year). There’s no doubt face masks are crucial, but how do we avoid the externalities such as falls?
~From the NYT: how schools that are open to in-person instruction are shifting via allowing teaching to occur outdoors. Related to this: Richard Louv’s classic book “Last Child in the Woods,” is an excellent foray into the issue of ‘nature deprivation’ — outdoor teaching helps lower COVID transmission risk while also changing the setting for learning (it would be interesting to know if this helps with attention)
~A great, short discussion of Dr Akiko Iwasaki’s work and recent award, in Science. There are many unsung heroes, namely researchers and physician leaders, who are finally being recognized for their work this year, during COVID. There is also a Canadian/UofToronto connection here, as she did some of her training at the University of Toronto. That aside, especially as a woman of colour in research/medicine, it’s wonderful to see her gain influence.
~Few more choice pieces from the NYT: by the great Carl Zimmer on vaccine safety as it relates to research trials, Ashley Fetters (whose articles in the Atlantic were among the best in my view) on loneliness as it relates to working from home, and this great one on COVID long-haulers in pediatrics.
2. Two incredible podcast episodes to listen to:
Tim Ferris with Seth Godin: a long-time listener to Tim’s podcast, in 2020 his empathy and curiosity with his interview subjects is even more clear. He asks the questions most interviewers don’t, and really gets into the nuts and bolts of “process” and “habits”. This interview with Godin is excellent because 90% of the time they cover the writing process and what Godin advises. Godin’s thoughts on writers block alone are golden.
The GOOP podcast with Rebecca Traister: a somewhat divisive journalist, Traister isn’t afraid to ask tough questions and here she really interrogates traditional ideas of feminism, and specifically the role that white women have taken in oppressing women of colour as well as men of colour. We all intersect with various identities and it is sometimes the case where learning into power “over” an oppressed group is confused with self-empowerment. On my wish-list for 2021 is for Traister to have her own podcast: I’d really just love to hear more of her takes on provocative issues, and she seems like she’d be a thoughtful but brave interviewer.
3.Tiny piece on friendship and connection
Maria Popova’s hugely popular newsletter is hands down my favourite weekly email. This one is from last year, but it rings true during this time as well.
4.Sound (and wise) reflections
~From Knowable magazine — what lies ahead for “Black Lives Matter” from a political scientist and sociologist.
~Water on the moon!! But even better — a millennial discovered it, from the New Yorker
“‘For the first nine hours and forty minutes,Casey Honniball, a 27 yr old planetary scientist, didn’t have much to do. She took a nap, ate a PBJ sandwich, & used her laptop to work on research proposals.”
So what was that about millennials being lazy and entitled again? 🙂
~And an obituary from a very interesting psychologist– one who questioned the status quo, and the elements of psychiatry & psychology that have become, rightly or wrongly, dogma. The squeaky wheels in medicine/psychology are the ones that often make these fields better.
5.Miscellany (politics edition)
~AOC in Vanity Fair: her journey, and earnestness, has been incredible to watch
~Racial politics and Kamala Harris, in the New Yorker: how does a possible future Vice President navigate the harmful stereotypes on anger?
~Why this year really does feel different, from Politico.
6.Best tweet of the month goes to…
ANOTHER TIE between
Posthumous Richard Feynman:
One of the signs of intelligence is to be able to accept the facts without being offended.
and editor Jenee Desmond-Harris, mostly because I couldn’t agree more:
The beach really fixes everything. Except home pandemic haircuts.
In My Own Words…
This month, I’ll share an archival piece about Halloween (one of the first pieces I ever published) and trends related to allergy — the Toronto Sun is Toronto’s answer to the NYPost (!); I’m just glad they liked it enough to publish it. And another archival one on election stress, and how it can affect voter turnout, published in Ozy, also from 2016. The month was busy writing wise but because I was invited to contribute a textbook chapter, for a textbook on physician well-being, to be released in late 2021. I’m fortunate to work on it with two mentors I greatly respect and enjoy working with, and the chapter focuses on physician mental health. Academic writing is much much different compared to say magazine or news or op-ed writing (obviously) but it was still fun. I’ve excerpted the last paragraph of our [draft] introduction here [for subscribers only]
This is a BIG week ahead for my American readers (but really, who are we kidding — it matters for all of us). If you can vote, please do. I know I’ll be feeling a bit anxious for the results.
Have a wondrous & well (and healthy, and safe!) month,
Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D., M.H.S.
August 2020
Welcome to the August issue of WonderWell, a newsletter intended to gather the most groundbreaking research and insightful commentaries in evidence-based medicine, wellness, healthcare leadership, writing, and innovation to help you live and work in alignment with your purpose and well-being.
So…it’s been awhile! I took a few months off to focus on the first deadline for my book…yes book! Details at the end. Oh, and I broke my wrist (ironic, given the title of my book). Let’s say that the experience was eye-opening, as I had a first-hand glimpse into the American healthcare system! I also left beautiful New York City, a place that I got to know well, & fell deeply in love with, in sickness and in health. As mentioned in my last newsletter, we are living in very strange times currently, so the newsletter has pivoted slightly to include the same themes, but with a COVID19 lens.
Some things that had me wondering this month:
1. Can pandemic boredom be…Good?
Perhaps. At least according to a piece in the New Yorker and another in the New York Times Opinion Section. Perhaps some of our anxieties involve having to sit in deep contemplation — whether we like it or not. But what possibilities might this afford us? I loved this quote from the NYT Op-ed:
“This suggests that self-reflection can be intrinsically aversive…Sure, boredom is a signal that we’re underaroused, but if we sit long enough with our uncomfortable thoughts and feelings, boredom could provide us with an opportunity to rethink whether we are spending our lives in a way that is rewarding and meaningful to us. What things might we change to make life — and ourselves — more interesting?”
2.Election things and Current events
A big month in the U.S., as Kamala Harris was chosen as the Vice Presidential candidate, marking the first time a South Asian American and Black American was chosen for the role. This is a great article on what it means for many women who identify with parts of her heritage — myself included!
We also marked the passing of actor Chadwick Boseman from colon cancer, at the age of 43. This is a form of cancer that has seen an uptick among young (20s-50) people, and it’s a disturbing trend that serves as a reminder to take the signs and symptoms seriously, and to get screened. It’s also a reminder that we never really know what strangers, and sometimes even our loved ones, are facing privately — so kindness is key. There were lots of tributes over the weekend: this one from the New Yorker is especially good, as is this essay by Marvel director Ryan Coogler. What’s clear is that Boseman was motivated to use his platform and his work to advance social change, particularly as it applies to racial justice. His work speaks for itself, and he left a legacy — both in his work and all of those he impacted (the consistent theme is his humility, grace, and kindness) — which may inspire us all. This quote below, from the New Yorker article, sticks out as it reflects how often the industries we find ourselves in reward the conformists over the trailblazer. Personally, I’d much rather blaze a trail.
It is, perhaps, this very sense of history, of responsibility, of implicit but intensely personal political commitment, that also inhibited the acclaim, while Boseman lived and worked, from his timid and stumbling Hollywood milieu.
3.Are Doctors People?
I dug deep into the archive for this one, reflecting on burnout and the struggles many doctors are facing during his pandemic. Roger I Lee was an incredibly accomplished physician leader who also served in WWI. He also had a little mischief and sarcastic streak, which makes him even more interesting. This short essay is worth the read. His books are hard to find as they’re out of print — this one is next on my list, and sitting patiently on my nightstand.
4.Our memories and our attachments and….a contrariwise state
The theme of “attachments” has preoccupied me since January, for many reasons. I just gave a talk framing this idea within the context of the Biblical Book of Job, and William Blake’s rendering of it. This season finale episode of Malcolm Gladwell’s podcast, Revisionist History, builds on this theme in a slightly different way, and it will move you to tears. It’s well worth a listen, especially as we mourn many loved ones this year. After you listen, read this, from the Globe and Mail — a beautiful reflection on how we might mourn our old [pre-COVID] lives.
Sometimes the biggest attachments we have are to our opinions — so the challenge then becomes understanding how these opinions form (the best understanding I have is that it’s a confluence of information and our values), and what it might take to change our minds. I’m in the process of changing my mind about something quite significant (I’d share but am still cocooning it), and so this essay, on Medium, which touches on Heraclitus and Jung and the idea of “contrariwise” — that eventually we gravitate towards our opposite mind-state, is fascinating.
5.A book I’ve been enjoying
On my pandemic wish-list, since around March, was that someone, somewhere, might write an anthology — short stories and essays and images — about this ‘time of COVID.’ A written and visual “time capsule” of this moment, in other words. Well, Bill Hayes has done just that with “How We Live Now,” just released this month. Hayes is an amazing writer, whose subjects generally focus on medical nonfiction (everything from an exploration into the man behind “Gray’s Anatomy” i.e. the textbook not the show! And his own struggle with insomnia). He is also the partner of the late, great, Oliver Sacks (and this lovely piece describes their love story). I’ve been enjoying his latest book as a way to integrate my own reflections of this time, some of which will make their way into the last chapter of my own book. It’s worth the read.
6.Best tweet of the month goes to...
Adam Grant — with his tweet on which opinions we decide to share. It might especially be relevant for forums like Twitter.
“Not every opinion needs to be voiced. Not every emotion needs to be expressed. A key question: does what you’re about to share align with your values? It’s good to be true to your thoughts and feelings in the moment. It’s better to be true to your guiding principles in life.”
In My Own Words…
This month I gave a talk to the National Partnership for Hospice Innovation, on grief and attachments during COVID. I’ll link to the video next month. I also moderated an important discussion for Ellevate, on mental health, with a focus on this challenging period. Last, I’m pleased to share my formal book announcement — it’s slated for publication in 2022. Thank you for joining me on this journey!
Have a wondrous & well (and healthy, and safe!) month,
Amitha Kalaichandran, M.D., M.H.S.
The coronavirus pandemic will leave lasting emotional scars.
According to my mother, there are two unique forms of grief that everyone touched by war understands. There’s the grief associated with the loss of human life—through bombings and brutal combat, and through the disease that runs rampant when health care and all other social services are halted. Then there’s the grief associated with the loss of a life as we once knew it: loss of country, loss of employment, loss of identity as a “prewar person,” and the subsequent need to start over. The two run along together like two dark snakes intertwined.
When my mother and father moved to the United Kingdom from Sri Lanka, amid a civil war that would drag on for 26 years, they didn’t readily display their grief. My siblings were born into the only reality we would ever know: visiting ducks at the local park, swinging on our neighbors’ swing set, and blowing out candles at birthday parties that were evidence of both assimilation and normalcy. Yet my parents’ grief would peek through at moments. The first time I ever saw my mother sob was the day she received a phone call with news that my uncle back home had lost his foot in a land-mine explosion. Years after we had moved to Canada, she learned that a famous library holding thousands of historical texts in her native Jaffna had been burned to the ground by the army. Her silent tears and the way she stared off into space, I realized then, were two more dialects of grief.
That kind of sorrow is unfamiliar to many people who live in peaceful places. Yet COVID-19 will leave behind a complicated form of grief that will linger—potentially for many years after the immediate crisis has abated. Thousands of bodies have piled up in Italy, during a period when doctors wrestled with horrific ethical quandaries around rationing care. Now, in parts of the United States, refrigerated trucks have been deployed for use as makeshift morgues. In New York, a mass grave is being built, and cremations are happening all day long. Patients are dying alone, and much like during the Ebola crisis in West Africa, fears of contagion have interfered with families’ ability to mourn.
As of yesterday afternoon, more than 20,000 Americans had died of the new coronavirus. The growth in the number of cases, fortunately, appears to be slowing. Still, even relatively optimistic projections indicate that many more people will succumb in coming weeks; even some who recover will still be at risk of long-term health complications.
All of this damage is occurring while people are still dying from other causes, too—and when grieving people are being discouraged from even going outside, much less seeking solace from their loved ones. Making matters worse, the current crisis has put enormous stress on the healing professions that, in normal times, help families deal with loss and bereavement. Our society is ill-prepared for the kind of grief the coronavirus is visiting upon so many people during so short a span.
Research on grief after large-scale casualties is scant, but the literature suggests that suffering personal losses can be particularly harmful when experienced in times of broader social stress. A 2015 study found that children who lost a loved one during a mass-trauma event such as a natural disaster, a terrorist attack, or a war are likely to suffer long-term psychological trouble. Studies of service members and veterans who served during 9/11 found a high prevalence of what is sometimes called complicated grief—a type of bereavement that is unusually severe and long-lasting. These service members and veterans showed worse symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and had a higher number of lifetime suicide attempts.
A study of survivors of the Rwandan genocide found that what the researcher called “unprocessed mourning”—in part the result of the halting of traditional mourning rituals during the war—contributed to lingering mental-health woes. Two years after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, chronic grief was found in almost half the survivors, and was strongly associated with losing a spouse or being female. And a systematic review of Ebola survivors found high levels of psychological distress, including prolonged grief, which was compounded by the stigma placed both on survivors and their families as they attempted to return to work.
The coronavirus pandemic differs from those catastrophes in various ways. But it brings stressors of its own. Especially for those worried about vulnerable elders, it brings a level of anticipatory grief, the form that appears when the death of a loved one appears inevitable. It also comes amid a sudden economic crisis and skyrocketing unemployment; the disconnection of people from their families, friends, and their usual routines; and the recognition that some of those routines will be permanently disrupted.
In her 1939 short story Pale Horse, Pale Rider, the writer Katherine Anne Porter describes the protagonist, Miranda, as she falls in love with a soldier named Adam while also falling ill with the 1918 influenza. Amid their fear of the disease, the pair also grieve their old way of life. “All the theatres and nearly all the shops and restaurants are closed,” Adam laments, “and the streets have been full of funerals all day and ambulances all night.” Only when Miranda recovers herself can she fully appreciate the world she and her lover have lost. And when she learns, by letter, that her lover has died from the disease, she descends into the darker depths of prolonged grief.
“At once he was there beside her, invisible but urgently present, a ghost more alive than she was, the last intolerable cheat of her heart; for knowing it was false she still clung to the lie, the unpardonable lie of her bitter desire.”
The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines prolonged grief disorder as grief symptoms persisting for six months or longer after a loss, along with separation distress, impaired social or occupational functioning, and the presence of symptoms such as confusion, shock, bitterness, and difficulty moving forward with life. As the public sits in anxiety and in isolation, policy makers seeking to cope with the current crisis must also begin to plan for the demands on mental-health services, specifically for grief and bereavement, in the near term and beyond.
As a physician who is also the child of two physicians, I worry in particular about the grief experienced by the health-care providers who are making good on their ethical duty to serve those suffering from the coronavirus. After the 2004 tsunami, prolonged grief disorder was found in one in 10 hospital workers surveyed. In the current crisis, medical providers—including my mother, an anesthesiologist who performs intubations—are at personal risk. Even those who survive COVID-19 or do not contract it in the first place may lose valued friends and colleagues, amid the deaths of other health-care workers who have had to work without adequate protective gear.
In the hospital, doctors and patients alike have reasons to grieve. Doctors grieve the loss of a patient who has died. Patients, once a disease is diagnosed, grieve the loss of their health. Medical trainees grieve their former idealistic self as they become inured to a system that, ironically, often places little value on their own well-being.
Before the coronavirus, the ethos of humanism—of listening closely to patients’ concerns and fears and tending to their needs—had never been stronger in the medical profession. The pandemic returns doctors to a time when compartmentalizing a patient’s suffering—and one’s own—is an emotional survival tool. “We’re asked to be as dispassionate as the disease itself,” Daniel Lakoff, an emergency-room doctor in New York City, recently told me. “We don’t touch the patient in many cases, we use telemedicine, we give oxygen, and we watch and wait. And we often feel powerless.”
Claire Bidwell Smith, a counselor in Charleston, South Carolina, who has written three books on grief, told me that these recent weeks have been the busiest of her decade-long career. (She offers her services online.) She raises the possibility that grief may play out differently during this pandemic from how most people typically experience it. Usually grief feels very personal, Smith says, because the rest of the world proceeds normally while the bereaved feels numb and alone. That dynamic may change because much of the world has now ground to a halt. Grief may be delayed, she said, but a shared catharsis may lie ahead. “I think there will be a massive collective mourning when we’ve emerged from this, for us as a culture,” Smith said. “While what’s happening is heartbreaking, and we haven’t been able to ritualize or memorialize. We will come back to this.”
When I was growing up, another way in which grief visited our home was when my parents’ friends and extended family from Sri Lanka would stop by and reminisce. They would briefly recall the war but also use it as a frame in which to tell more uplifting stories of laughter and overcoming. Grief, when these adults experienced it together, became a connecting agent, joining the broken pieces into a more harmonious common mosaic.
The scars always remain. At the end of Pale Horse, Pale Rider, months of hardship give way to a future that is both brighter and tinged with melancholy. “No more war, no more plague,” she writes, “only the dazed silence that follows the ceasing of the heavy guns; noiseless houses with the shades drawn, empty streets, the dead cold light of tomorrow. Now there would be time for everything.”
**Originally published in The Atlantic**
Us, Interrupted is a series that focuses on public figures as well as professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis, we hope these stories of vulnerability and resilience will help us move forward, stronger together.
Sophia Bush is an American actress, activist, and entrepreneur. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America and has starred in various independent projects, shows, and movies such as John Tucker Must Die, Incredibles 2, One Tree Hill, Dick Wolf’s Chicago PD, and This is Us and has joined the cast of the upcoming show Love, Victor. Bush also co-founded and sits on the board for the public awareness campaign “I am a voter,” which promotes awareness of registration tools and encourages all to use their resources to participate in the voting process. Most recently, Bush launched a podcast, Work in Progress, which features frank conversations with people who inspire her about how they’ve gotten to where they are.
We spoke to Bush about how her normally busy life has been changed by the impact of COVID-19 and why she’s learning to not expect too much from herself while staying home.
1. What was your life like before we learned about COVID-19, in terms of your self-care and maintaining a sense of well-being?
I’ve always struggled with routine since on set there is no such thing. Some days I have a 4:15 a.m. call time, and some days I go to work at 6 p.m. and film until the next day at 8 a.m. So I think I’ve always been enamored with people’s routines and looked at them with total fascination. In recent years, I’ve really tried to examine how to create routine.
Read more at MindBodyGreen.
Us, Interrupted is a series that focuses on public figures as well as professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis, we hope these stories of vulnerability and resilience will help us move forward, stronger together.
Rachel Pearson, M.D., Ph.D., is a hospital pediatrician and assistant professor of medical humanities in San Antonio, Texas. Through the Center for Medical Humanities and Ethics, she runs the website known as “Pan Pals,” which uses the humanities and allied disciplines to help preserve compassion, justice, and humanitarian values through and beyond the pandemic.
When we spoke to Pearson, she explained the way that her life as a doctor, a medical ethicist, and a newly expectant mother has been affected by the COVID-19 outbreak:
1. What was your life like before we learned about COVID-19, in terms of your self-care and maintaining a sense of well-being in and out of the hospital?
I was settling into a new job in a new city, and I had just found out that I was pregnant for the first time. I had made some friends, and one of my most important ways of caring for myself was going for walks in the evenings with a girlfriend. I would meet my friend Christy halfway between our houses, and we’d walk around the neighborhood with her two dogs.
In the hospital, one of the big joys of my new job was finding that I had lots of time to spend with my patients and their families, as well as with my residents. I could go from room to room in the afternoons and just sit down and check in with worried parents and sick kids. The human connection that comes from that time, as well as the knowledge that I was getting to practice medicine in a way I believe in, gave me a lot of peace and brought a lot of meaning into my life. I also knew that, with my own kid on the way, I would soon have a reason to want to leave the hospital as soon as possible—so, I was really relishing that deep time with my patients and families.
Read more on MindBodyGreen.
Us, Interrupted is a series that focuses on public figures as well as professionals on the front lines of the COVID-19 global pandemic. During this unprecedented crisis, we hope these stories of vulnerability and resilience will help us move forward, stronger together.
Blake Mycoskie is an entrepreneur, author, and philanthropist and the founder and chief shoe giver of TOMS. Since beginning with shoes, the brand has expanded to eyewear and a coffee roasting company that partners with other organizations that provide safe water in seven counties. His most recent project, Madefor, launched recently and aims to improve our brains and bodies with neuroscience, psychology, and physiology.
Here, mindbodygreen spoke to Mycoskie about transitioning to life during COVID-19 as an individual and as a business leader, and how he’s taking control of his experience and finding the good that he can:
1. What was your life like before we learned about COVID-19, in terms of your self-care and maintaining a sense of well-being?
How I start my day plays a big role in how I experience life. My morning routine begins around 5:30 a.m. and consists of a mix of contemplation, prayer, basic body movements, and a tea ceremony. There isn’t anything magical about my 30-minute routine, but I find there is magic in an intentional start to the day. It helps me be more present and leads to better decisions. Each day, I try to find the right mix of quality time with my children and friends, outdoor physical activities like surfing or climbing, and meaningful work. I’m at my best if I invest in these three areas on a daily basis.
Read more on MindBodyGreen.