3/13/2021
My Dear Friend, JRB,
Today’s food for thought: “The military wanted to destroy my brain, my will to fight the dictatorship and my hope. It failed.” (by Burmese activist, Bo Kyi)
Aren’t our brains amazing? They give us our imaginations, our abilities to solve problems, our capacity to communicate, our penchant to fantasize & our impulse to seek meaning. Our thoughts are our most precious commodities.
Unfortunately, these precious commodities can become nooses when people’s thoughts torture them & they dwell in darkness & regret. Too many people in our country suffer from these brain malfunctions, often caused by stress & trauma. We’re going to need to be ready to treat them as we come out of CV.
You’ve had your share of stress & trauma. No doubt you experienced dysregulation of your norepinephrine and Cortisol systems after that terrible car crash killed your wife & daughter. It must haunt you from time to time. I encourage you to consider Ashish Kaushal’s suggestion that you “send a clear message to America: open up about your mental health and call out bias against it. Rather than being a weakness it can be a source of strength.”
My husband’s been in a dark place for a couple of years now. An article in today’s G fueled my hope that ketamine could help him out of his rut. Some folks in London are investing big bucks into treatment centers where people suffering from Treatment Resistant Depression (TRP) get some psilocybin & talk therapy & come out as new people. Please do what you can to promote this idea in the USA.
While my husband won’t be able to run & jump again, it would be nice if he could laugh. Reading in the NYT today about the conditions in nursing homes has convinced me that is not an option for him, so if he is going to stay in my care for the rest of his life, I’d appreciate it if he could have some hope.
I appreciate that you are emphasizing hope & minimizing fear in your administration. May your optimism infect more people than CV did.
BYBS,
