Episode 6: What to Expect When the Virus is Gone But COVID Trauma Remains
It's going to get hairy.
The topic that I would bother people with at parties, were there parties
This week’s episode is one that I was extra excited to get out into the world because it’s taking up a lot of my thoughts for a while now. This is because I’ve been through some trauma directly and I’ve studied up on the effects of widespread trauma on society. So I knew that even when the covid, the virus, is gone, covid as a traumatic event will stay with us.
So yeah, even as we got news of the effectiveness of the vaccine and it got approved and distributed, I was the one yelling, “Hold on! We’re just getting started!” This is because I am a lot of fun.
But seriously, we’re better off knowing some things:
People who have experienced trauma in the past are going to be more susceptible this time around.
Everyone will feel this trauma to some extent, some way more than others, everyone in their own way.
There’s a lot to be said for having kindness and patience to yourself and others through this process rather than expecting anyone to “snap out of it”.
We can’t process a trauma until it’s over. And this one isn’t over. We can’t check for damage when the car is still crashing.
This is our first episode to feature Dr. Ken Duckworth, the medical director of NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He’s kind of a big deal in mental health and we’ve become friends over the last couple of years. Something I love about Ken is he can take a topic like a pandemic of unimaginable horror and frame it in terms that give you an overview of the issue but still imbue it with personal, relatable meaning. The show also has our first interview with Dr. Ksera Dyette, a practicing therapist, who gives a great, honest look at what she’s seeing on the ground. Both these people will be on future episodes and, in fact, have already taped some.
Tomorrow! Tuesday the 27th! 1pm central! Exclamation points!
I’ll be hosting our Depresh Mode Debrief over on YouTube Live. I’ll be talking about the issues presented by the latest episode and I’ll be taking any questions you might have. These are very simple affairs, just me talking, but I hope you can hop on and be part of it.
I actually gave a speech last week and am giving one later this week on this topic because it’s one of the biggest issues related to mental health today. Basically, there’s a huge crisis coming our way. Huge mental health problems combined with a scarcity of resources. Gonna get grim. But there are lots of reasons to be hopeful too.
So MEET ME HERE. ALL CAPS.
A conversation I had this morning with Jill, my wife
JILL: How was your morning?
ME: Good. Busy. A lot of work to do, taking a little break now.
JILL: What did you have?
ME: Well, I watched a monster movie and made wisecracks with John Hodgman for a couple hours. That’s a special commentary track for bonus content for the Max Fund Drive. Then I taped a pitch break for the drive with Jesse Thorn, where we talked about how important Depresh Mode is for people and why Jesse is so glad to have us on the network he created.
JILL: Oh. So…
ME: So not like “hard work” by the traditional definition.
JILL: More like having a wonderful time with your friends.
ME: I’m going to make some more coffee. You want some more coffee?
Did my wife create the crop art piece “Soy Division” for the Minnesota State Fair? In fact she did.
Didn’t she do Hall In Oates as well?
Yes.
This is why I love UFO and Bigfoot stuff
I watch many, many, videos about the paranormal. Not because I’m easily fooled. There are tons that are obviously faked and others that I can’t explain but that may be fake. But I watch them because I enjoy inhabiting a world, however briefly, where there are other possibilities. I like thinking that there are things beyond the realm of our knowledge that - if true - and they’re likely not but if they are - could indicate a vastness to our world that wasn’t there before.
This item is not about those videos.
This is an article about the albums we’ve never heard from people who we thought we’ve heard everything from. Yes, new albums by Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and Marvin Gaye do exist. But we may never hear them. To me these are the Bigfoots - Bigfeet? - of popular music.
This Pink Floyd song later turned into “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”:
JILL: And then what did you do at “work”?
ME: Listened to some Pink Floyd deep cuts. It was really difficult.