Renee Singh

Many of us are going through a super level of metamorphosis, trying to adjust to the new normal that has become a way of life for us now.

Slowly and steadily as the truth of our existing situation is settling in, we are silently settling within. It is actually a subtle shift.

Over the years, the human mind has learnt to be malleable in order to succeed. It knows how to adjust to its ever-changing circumstances and environment, so that it could be in a more productive phase constantly.

New beliefs

Slowly, as we assimilate all the new information we have been provided with, we have been working on changing our own belief system, so that we can be at an amicable level of adjustment to the world around us. This is the only way we can be viably productive, as we need to feel comfortable at all levels of functioning in society, in order to feel like winners. We are winners if we are allowing a channelised flow of our energy in the right direction.

Build a better self-image

This is how you see yourself. Are you seeing yourself as confident and assertive, or shy and scared? Do you see the positive in people, or the negative? Your opinion of yourself is what eventually makes or breaks you.

Positive thinking is a waste of time if you do it selectively. It determines how high you fly. We have the power to lift our self image or lower it.

Decision making skills

Ultimately it is your decision making skill that determines where you ultimately land yourself. Your sub-conscious mind is your powerhouse and your decision-maker.

Replay mental video

We think in pictures. The way we talk to ourselves, makes us create pictures mentally and that in turn controls how we feel emotionally.

We need to replay an event in our minds and then start positive self talk, telling ourselves how great we feel.

Talk your way to success

Often we are harsh and judgmental about ourselves. We are critical about every little thing we do. This, of course, arises from a negative self image. So, we need to change our perception of ourselves.

Importance of attitude

Attitude is more important than education, money or circumstances we cannot control. The one thing we are completely in charge of is our attitude. As the saying is that in life 10 per cent is what actually happens, and 90 per cent is how we react to it.

Know what you want

We are mostly scared to look within to see what we really want, what is it that our heart truly wants.

We are taught as kids not to have desires, but it needs to be understood that challenges are important for growth. Desire creates a focus and challenges the mind, which leads to growth.

Unlimited growth

Every human being needs to tap his potential. He needs to understand that sky is the limit. All is within our control, as long as we allow it.

Keeping all these factors in perspective, life should definitely become an exciting and fulfilling journey.

(Singh is a Chandigarh-based psycho therapist)

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The human mind knows how to adjust to its ever-changing circumstances - The Tribune India

Time stopped, and time passed, as a nation saw itself caught in a state of shock and disbelief on Saturday night, witnessing Christian Eriksen fight for his life. Luckily, the best Danish player in the 21st century is still alive after his sudden cardiac arrest in the 43rd minute of Denmarks Euro 2020 opener against Finland.

We will all remember those images for the rest of our lives, says John Sivebaek, who was part of the Danish team that sensationally won the European Championship in 1992.

When seeing Eriksens collapse on TV, Sivebaek was himself reminded of his own past: When preparing his move to Manchester United in 1985, the medical examination detected a leaky heart valve. His condition was monitored throughout his career, and finally, in 2012, he went through an operation.

It was tough for me back then, psychologically.

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This could be a turning point in Denmark, Eriksen's collapse changed the country's attitude towards... - The Athletic

In addition to the immediate grief of losing loved ones to the disease, mental health issues have stemmed from the myriad ways in which our everyday lifestyles have transformed

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdowns put in place to curb it have changed the very landscape of mental health globally. In addition to the immediate grief of losing loved ones to the disease, mental health issues have stemmed from the myriad ways in which our everyday lifestyles have transformed. This means that phenomena specific to the pandemic era have been reported, in addition to other previously recognised concerns that may have been related to staying in for long periods of time, or dealing with stressful circumstances.

Here's a look at the mental health issues people are experiencing as a result of the coronavirus pandemic:

Zoom fatigue

For anyone working from home, using Zoom or similar applications to attend meetings or interact with colleagues has become an inevitable part of life. A work schedule inundated with video calls can cause its own kind of burnout. Researchers at Stanford identified four reasons for this particular type of fatigue: excessive eye contact at a close proximity, which our eyes and brains interpret as an intense situation; seeing oneself on video for long periods, which one would not normally do during pre-pandemic times; the inability to move aroundduring a meeting; a higher cognitive load since non-verbal cues are tougher to read virtually.

The solutions they have outlined are simple and easy to implement: reducing the size of the Zoom window, using the 'hide self view' button when video presence isn't needed, placing the video camera/device further away from oneself, giving oneself audio-only breaks and putting the video mode off.

Languishing

Describedas a 'blah' feeling, languishing is marked by a lack of focus or drive to do anything. It is distinct from burnout and depression; individuals have reported aimlessness and joylessness. Organisational psychologist Adam Grant's essay about the subject in The New York Times describes it as the neglected middle child of mental health. While flourishing is the peak of well-being, depression is its polar opposite, and languishing sits somewhere in between these two states. The term was reportedly coined by sociologist Corey Keyes.

Grant says it is the consequence of the prolonged nature of the pandemic. The initial fear of the virus and the need to follow certain patterns to maintain safety marked the early period of the pandemic the author terms this anguish. A year on, with no seeming end to the pandemic in sight, anguish has been replaced by languishing. The danger of languishing is that one doesn't actively recognise the dulling of their focus, or want to act upon this dulling, creating an attitude of indifference about one's general sense of indifference.

The antidote to languishing is reportedly maintaining a flow and immersed interest in one's tasks, in an attempt to beat indifference. Grant suggests that individuals should give themselves uninterrupted time to finish tasks, and focus on small goals to this end.

Also read on Firstpost:2020, a year in mental health: Grief, anxiety, doomscrolling there's another pandemic alongside COVID-19

Grief

Grief has assumed a sort of omnipresence in our lives, but this feeling isn't just a consequence of losing a loved one or reading the statistics of deaths that have taken place due to the coronavirus . An interview with David Kessler, co-author ofOn Grief and Grieving withElisabeth Kbler-Ross, revealed that individuals are feeling many different kinds of grief at the same time.

As a society, we are also experiencing this state collectively, and about many different aspects, such as financial losses, extreme changes, etc. One of the foremost experts on the subject, Kessler told Harvard Business Review that one of the main kinds of grief people felt was anticipatory, which stemmed from the feeling of an uncertain future. This cuts into the feeling of safety and security that marks 'normal' times.

Kessler is of the opinion that accepting and understanding grief is where the power of processing it lies. He also suggested trying to achieve a balance in thoughts acknowledging that not all of our loved ones have left us, and reminding oneself that the pandemic, however long drawn, is still temporary. Another key step is identifying and naming what you're feeling (and this may be useful for the other mental health issues that are a result of the pandemic, too). "There is something powerful about naming this as grief. It helps us feel whats inside of us," he said.

Compassion fatigue

An issue frequently reported by people in healthcare and counselors and psychologists, compassion fatigue is exhaustion from caring a cost of being compassionate. Individuals who suffer from this have expressed feeling a sense of hopelessness after reading the news and keeping abreast about causes one cares about, especially headlines that evoke a sense of defeat. It causes burnout and secondary traumatic stress. It leads to a lack of appetite, an inability to sleep and go about one's everyday tasks. It can also make one more susceptible to other mental health issues.

Also read on Firstpost:Why addressing compassion fatigue amid the coronavirus crisis is crucial to navigating such extraordinary times

The scale of the pandemic, the news about strife, protests and rights violations, and uncertainty about the future caused many to experience compassion fatigue. To combat this issue, experts recommend monitoring the amount of information one consumes, drawing clear boundaries about what you can and cannot do, and institutional training on resilience building for those who are high-risk individuals.

Relatedly, experts have spoken about the dangers of 'doomscrolling' "the compulsive need to try and get answers when were afraid," as one BBC report puts it. It involves endlessly scrolling on social media and through news, especially bad news. The pandemic has caused people to doomscroll because of an excess amount of time on their hands, as well as a need to constantly keep consuming news about COVID-19 . Users have also reported 'pleasure' associated with this act, of having read something dreadful while within the comfort of their secure homes. Some also doomscroll in the hope of finding a spot of good news.

Experts suggest keeping track of the amount of time spent on social media and while trawling through the news, putting reminders to put one's phone off, and pledging to put away one's phone for certain periods of time.

Revenge bedtime procrastination

Many people have reported not wanting to go to bed after a long, tiring day at work, instead wanting to be on their phones, scrolling through social media or Wikipedia articles, or doing equally mundane things. Reportedly a term coined in China, revenge bedtime procrastination is eating into people's sleep as they try to reclaim free time from their days by staying up for longer. It is an almost vengeful attempt to get me-time, reports The Washington Post. In several cases, this has coincided with people willingly giving up free time in the day to do work, as opposed to taking time off.

The Washington Post suggests carving out time for oneself and making the most of it, as well as pruning one's schedule as ways to counter this type of procrastination. The BBC reports that bringing an end to this tendency to cut down on sleep will require institutional changes, wherein employees speak to their bosses about a routine that works for them. A labour sociologist quoted in this report says that by encouraging employees to sleep longer, employers will actually ensure higher productivity levels.

Pandemic burn out

Individuals especially millennials have reported feeling burnt out even before the pandemic brought the world to a halt, and our offices into our homes. In her iconic BuzzFeed essay, Anne Helen Petersen wrote about "errand paralysis", the tendency to put aside and delay undertaking simple but essential tasks, resulting in a hauntingly long to-do list, and shame about not ticking things off it. The pandemic has exacerbated burn out and the phenomena that result from it. The inability to focus because of grief and languishing is now at odds with our need to be perpetually productive.

Social distancing and an increasingly online work life has, ironically, brought our jobs and colleagues within closer reach, while pushing our loved ones far away. Our email inboxes and meetings are accessible within the click of a button, and on multipledevices. The blurring of boundaries between the home space and work space has resulted in individuals putting in longer hours, as well as multitasking (for example, checking updates while on a Zoom call). The absence of a commute and other activities like being able to go to the gym or out for a meal has meant that our minds don't have time to prepare for the next work task, or ways to separate and structure the different hours of our days.

Also read on Firstpost: Re-thinking productivity during the pandemic, countering a culture obsessed with being 'useful'

An essay in The Conversation suggests changing our lives to mimic how they used to be pre-pandemic taking time off, having casual conversations and trying to separate the assigned work spaces in our houses from the spaces where we spend off-time. The Harvard Business Review says that burnout is a subjective, individual issue that needs individual-specific solutions and preventive strategies, which involve self-reflection, compassion for the self and support from one's employers.

More on the intersection of mental health and the coronavirus pandemic on Firstpost:

Coronavirus crisis' mental health burden: Notes on battling germophobia during a pandemic

COVID-19 and mental health: All you need to know about toxic positivity and how to deal with it during the pandemic

Survivor's guilt is a growing issue among those grieving COVID-19 losses; timely intervention could alleviate distress

For people living with trauma, the coronavirus outbreak can be a trigger, or familiar psychological territory

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Explained: Zoom fatigue, languishing, doomscrolling and other mental health issues stemming from COVID-19 - Firstpost

As we now know it, Nirvana's Nevermind changed the face of music back in 1991, but Dave Grohl says he never envisioned the kind of success they'd achieve, even though friends were quick to praise the album ahead of its release.

Speaking with Uncut magazine, Grohl recalls a number of friends telling them that they were going to be huge. We would go, What? What are you talking about?' the drummer continued. Donita [Sparks] from L7 came by and said we were going to be fucking huge. My old friend Barrett Jones, who I had grown up with in Virginia, who was a musician and a producer himself, heard Lithium and said we were going to be fucking huge. He thought Lithium should be the first single."

Everyone had these lofty opinions and I thought, Well, its nice of you to say so, but there is no fucking way that is ever going to happen, adds Grohl.

It was easy to see why Grohl would have his doubts as he adds, "You also have to remember what was popular [in music] at the time. It was Wilson Phillips, it was Mariah Carey and fucking Bon Jovi. It was not bands like us. So it seemed totally implausible that we would ever even get close to that kind of success."

That said, Grohl said he knew the band had a great record on their hands. It all sounded great: the drum sound at [recording studio] Sound City, Butch Vigs production. The band was tight and Kurts songs were fucking great," recalls the drummer. "We would do one or two takes and maybe do an overdub here and there, Kurt would go in and do the vocal and it was crystal clear and so fucking powerful, melodic and beautiful that youre proud of [it] and we were definitely proud of it.

Nevermind was Nirvana's second release. After a September 1991 release, buoyed by the success of radio and MTV hit "Smells Like Teen Spirit," the album finally hit No. 1 in January of 1992. The record would yield four singles with "Come As You Are," "Lithium" and "In Bloom" following. The album is now diamond certified in the U.S. with over 10 million albums sold.

Earlier this year, Dave Grohl revealed that the living members of the band - himself, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear - still get together and jam. "We dont like run through a big oldNirvanasetlist but we do like to fool around and sometimes as were fooling around, songs happen. And you know if were in a studio well record them. So weve recorded some stuff thats really cool. But weve never done anything with it. But to us, I think, to us, its, its more just like friends, jamming around, it doesnt really seem like any sort of like big official reunion or anything," Grohl told Howard Stern.

Music has the power to move people. It also has the power to move them to action.

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Dave Grohl - It Was 'Implausible' 'Nevermind' Would Be Huge - Loudwire

Developing your knowledge, learning new things and adapting to changes are a few definitions of having a growth mindset.

Being a better person, especially in your workplace, can equal success. And it all boils down to having a positive attitude toward things.

In biotechnology, where change is constant in terms of development, having a progressive mindset is essential to improve life through science.

RELATED: Set Post-Pandemic Career Goals with These Tips

Dr. Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, revealed in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success that having a growth mindset allows improvement and development in your brain, intelligence and talents.

At the same time, the person who is willing to grow develops for the better. They are more likely to become better people as their skillsets are improved through training, hard work and perseverance.

They improve on their failures and learn from their mistakes to become better people.

She also concluded that humans have two types of mindsets -- a growth mindset and a fixed mindset.

The opposite of having a growth mentality is having a fixed mindset. If a growth mindset thinks about developing new skills and knowledge, having a fixed one has their intelligence stuck at a more static state.

A person with a fixed mindset avoids challenges, gives up easily when faced with an obstacle, is emotional about negative criticisms and is threatened by other peoples success.

People like this dont develop growth in their career and experience a plateau by not allowing themselves to improve and reach their full potential.

Having a fixed mindset doesnt mean its the end of the road for someone. Small and progressive changes can be done to turn it around.

RELATED: 7 Out-of-the-Box Strategies to Advance Your Career

Here are some of the ways you can improve yourself and develop a growth mindset.

Failure gives a person the ability to learn from any mistake. Embracing failure is a way to be a better person. This way, youll see the things you need to improve on.

Ignoring your failures can inhibit your ability to reach a state of success.

Pushing yourself to the limits makes for a very good learning experience. For some people, a challenge could be a negative experience. But when you have a growth mindset, a challenge should be a way to grow and learn.

Doing the same tasks over and over will prevent you from learning new things. Change can be difficult for some since it will let them out of their comfort zones, but it is a way to improve your skills and gain new knowledge.

Fostering grit can help you move forward and be focused on your goals, even if there are obstacles that you have to face along the way.

List down and set goals to give you an idea of what you need to pursue. This activity will allow you to move forward.

Crossing out a goal and moving on to the next one gives you the mental capacity to finish and go through things in an orderly way.

Have an open mind and be curious about everything. Dont think that if you know about something, then youll have to stop learning.

Explore even further to give yourself more knowledge about things. Youll be surprised at how much more youll learn. Never stop learning.

Adding yet to your vocabulary helps you overcome anything despite any challenges or struggles you face.

You need to alter your attitude of being an I cant do it person. Having an optimistic attitude helps you do anything and be an inspiration for people around you. Infect other people with positivity.

Listening to feedback and adjusting yourself lets you grow and learn new things. Stop being a know it all, and instead be open to criticisms since it will help you become better and change yourself from your mistakes.

It is not just about adjusting your way of thinking, but also about helping yourself become mentally and physically fit.

Physical activities such as jogging or stretching and mental activities like meditation can help you focus on things and clarify your mind.

Here are some examples of having a growth mindset in the workplace.

When being corrected or criticized, a person should use the feedback to improve themselves instead of being hurt or ignoring the comments.

In a team, learning how your teammates work can help you learn new skills. It can also be a way to develop a more efficient work environment because everyone will know how each member works.

When picking a new member for your team, look at a persons strengths and see how you can learn and grow from each other. Doing this can help improve the work environment and let that person adjust easily. It can be beneficial for you both.

Insecurities may arise when facing new tasks. Instead of having the mindset of failing because of the lack of experience in one field, let it be an opportunity to learn new skills and grow.

Experiment or consider new strategies. It could open a whole lot of ideas to improve your workflow and learn new things.

In biotechnology, constant learning and being open to other peoples thinking can spark innovative concepts to develop new ideas.

In the working world, having a growth mindset can lead to success. Continuous learning and being a better person can be contagious and can equate to a healthy work environment.

And in life, being optimistic and always thinking about growing is a great way to improve yourself and be a better person.

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Growth Mindset Definition and How You Can Use It In Your Job - BioSpace

Geriatrics is about care and medical attention to the needs of the old |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

Normally, most researches that centre around longevity or healthy, long life, probe what foods the people who live long eat or what sets of genes they have inherited, the researchers from the University of Rome La Sapienza and the University of California, San Diego decided to take a different view of longevity.

They focussed on a cluster of villages in Italys mountainous Cilento region on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea where 29 nonagenarians and centenarians and 51 family members aged 5175 years, lived a long and healthy existence. No diet study, no genetics study, for this study, the researchers focused on participants character traits.

This group was now a part of a larger study called CIAO (Cilento Initiative on Aging Outcomes) and they titled this study as "Mixed-methods quantitative-qualitative study of 29 nonagenarians and centenarians in rural Southern Italy: focus on positive psychological traits".When the Cambridge University Press published this study online on 12 December 2017 in International Psychogeriatrics, this is what they declared they had found.

Participants age 90 years had worse physical health but better mental well-being than their younger family members. Mental well-being correlated negatively with levels of depression and anxiety in both the group Researchers graded the elderly persons on issues like mental and physical well-being, resilience, optimism, anxiety, depression, and perceived stress. Several of them had been through life's upheavals... migrations, traumatic events, wars etc.Their lives were a picture of resilience and optimism, working hard, and bond with family and religion, but also a need for control and love of the land.

Ability to handle stress with positivity: "Older people are much better able to brush off lifes small stressors and accumulate a valuable thing called wisdom: being emotionally stable and compassionate, knowing yourself and being able to make smart social decisions," Dr Dilip V Jeste, senior associate dean for the Center of Healthy Aging at UC San Diego School of Medicine, told TIME. https://time.com/4464811/aging-happiness-stress-anxiety-depression/

Self-confidence and decision-making: In a piece CNBC carried on the study's findings, it noted that when the researchers compared the participants to their younger relatives between the ages of 51 and 75, they were surprised to find that, although the older generation had worse physical health, they scored higher on measures of self-confidence, decision-making and mental well-being, meaning they were generally less anxious and depressed.

Adaptability and resilience: This shows that there are certain attributes that are very important, including resilience, strong social support and engagement and having confidence in yourself, Jeste said. They exuded a sense of pride in their personal histories, beliefs and the trials theyve had to overcome throughout their lives.

Love of their land and people: The groups love of their land is a common theme and gives them a purpose in life. Most of them are still working in their homes and on the land. They think, This is my life and Im not going to give it up, said Anna Scelzo of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse in Chiavarese, Italy, in a press release, as per the CNBC report.

A bond with family and religion: This seemed to give the elderly a sense of grounding. This paradox of ageing supports the notion that well-being and wisdom increase with ageing even though physical health is failing, said Jeste. As he told TIME, it shows that getting older is not all gloom and doom.

Exceptional longevity was characterized by a balance between acceptance of and grit to overcome adversities along with a positive attitude and close ties to family, religion, and land, providing purpose in life.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a professional healthcare provider if you have any specific questions about any medical matter.

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Secret to longevity: Common personality traits of people who live to be 100 years old - Times Now

The England & Wales Cricket Board is spending a lot of money on other elements of the game but unless the mens national team is strong everything else around it will collapse.

The England mens team is the flagship. If it keeps performing like this the big TV money will soon dry up and then the ECB will sit up and take notice. They might even do something about it.

Perhaps there is too much money floating around from Sky. Maybe life is too cushy for administrators and coaches.If they were all paid on results then their pay packets would be a lot lighter and they might make these batsmen play a bit better.

Losing is part of cricket. Not a problem with that. You are not going to win every match but it is how you lose that counts. Supporters, and I include myself in that, want you to go down with a fight and show us something we can be proud of.

If you cant bat, you cant win. It is simple and as a unit England just keeping making too many mistakes because their techniques and mental thinking are so poor.

At Edgbaston the conditions for batting were as good as you will ever get in England. There was hot sunshine for three days. It was a dry pitch, with lowish bounce so you couldnt be bounced out. By the third day there was only a smidgen of turn. England cant make the excuse they were without Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler or Chris Woakes either. New Zealand were without six of their players.

We just dont seem to have the application, discipline or shot selection. Somebody needs to sit down and ask what were you thinking when you played the shot that got you out? Were they even thinking at all?

For example Rory Burns played beautifully in the first innings, and then in the second innings and only his second ball he drove at a wide one that he did not need to play at. It was a teaser, a sucker ball. He played an extravagant cover drive as if he still thought he was 80 not out after the first innings. The coach should be asking what was your thought process?

In the past we were taught the basics and told that a thinking cricketer is a better cricketer. Application is important. Stay sideways on. Move your feet right forward or right back. Bat and pad together. Leave wide balls alone. Get used to the pitch and the bowlers before you go for the big shots. If it swings, which it does at times, see it early, wait for it and play it late.

Generations have been taught the same things.We cant all be wrong. Another basic was stay in and dont give your wicket away. Take your time as it is a five-day game. These basics have not changed. Why do our batsmen not understand these fundamentals of Test-match batting?

Do coaches not teach these basics or do the players refuse to listen? England pick the guys who are making the most runs in county cricket. That is it. For some reason the counties are not turning out enough youngsters with good techniques and the mental attitude to face up to better bowlers and the pressure of Test match cricket.

If you think about it, since Joe Root came through, Ollie Pope is the only one who has looked technically sound. He moves his feet beautifully front and back, has balance and plays straight but still finds ways to get out. He flatters and then deceives. Its extraordinary.

Both openers play chest on. They put their front foot on the wrong side of the ball, and then have to play around their front pad. They are supposed to be the best two openers in English cricket. Yes, they will get runs sometimes but consistency is not possible with those techniques.

Zak Crawley and Dan Lawrence do not have good enough defences. They want to hit the ball before they get in. These are the top four young players we have. Blimey. That is a recipe for inconsistency. They have good hand-eye coordination so will make runs at times but not consistently. Their averages are in the low 30s. That is not going to win you many Test matches.

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If our coaches cannot teach England's youngsters to bat, I will do the job - Telegraph.co.uk

Recently I read an essay that kept me up at night. The piece, Under the Weather by climate journalist Ash Sanders, left me with an unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach that I found myself struggling to shake, even weeks later.

The personal essay tells the story of Sanders and a mentor of hers, Chris Foster. Sanders recounts how both she and Foster have struggled for much of their adult lives with a gripping sense of impending doom, a depression deeply tied to their grief for a world lost. She writes about the newly coined terms for environmentally related mental health problemseco-anxiety, climate grief, pre-traumatic stress disorderand suggests that these conditions should not necessarily be viewed as disorders, but rather as the only reasonable response to a world experiencing catastrophe.

She tells the stories of people whose experiences of living have been ruled by this extreme grief, to the point of burnout or withdrawal from societypeople whose climate depression has made their lives feel unbearable. When Sanders asks Foster if he believes he is sick, he replies, I dont know. But I know this: If your heart is breaking, youre on my team.

I am tired of being told that this world I was handed is irrevocably broken.

After reading those final words, I set the book that contained the essay down on my bedside table, suddenly wide awake and reeling. Its not that I dont empathize with Sanders. Since I was a teenager, Ive known that I want to be a part of the fight against climate change and environmental injustice. I know firsthand the realities of mental health struggles, and I know what it is to feel climate anxiety, even climate grief. I know that someone like Sanders or Foster, who has been doing climate work much longer than I have, is likely to experience these emotions to a much higher degree. I am not naive to the incredible task of building a more equitable, safe, and thriving future. Sometimes (often) it overwhelms me.

But equally, I know what it is to watch someone you love feel crushed by the weight of the world, and to feel helpless in lifting that burden. Im 22, barely out of college, and already I have seen more friends than I could have ever imagined fall into deep depression, magnified by their care for the world and the way they felt helpless to stop the suffering within it. I know the way depression closes a person off to the good and spotlights the bad, how it sows seeds of shame and self-doubt and sits back to watch them grow. I wish that I didnt. Depression tells us that we are at once powerless and culpable, and therefore the only logical response is to disengage, turn inward, eschew connectiona response which only serves to reinforce the oppressive systems like racial injustice and capitalism that are truly responsible for our suffering.

In her essay, Sanders described an interaction Foster had with a student who began to cry in one of his lectures as Foster categorized a goal carbon dioxide target of below 350 parts per million as hopeless. The student asked the question, If I didnt have hope, how could I live? and Fosters instinct was to respond with, Exactly. Sanders says Foster knows his attitude doesnt make him easy to be around, but she brushes past what I would argue is the larger issuethat the peddling of despair is unproductive, if not downright irresponsible.

Where is the joy or satisfaction in fighting for a world that is already damned?

Even without professors who declare doom, a hopeless attitude toward the world is already pervasive in communities of young people, both on social media and in person. Ive seen it in my peers, my friends, my partners. On college campuses, cynicism is sometimes equated to intelligence. To be optimistic, Ive been told on multiple occasions, is to be willingly naive. But while misery may love company, it doesnt always leave space for joy. I was made to feel guilty for feeling happiness in a world of darkness. Whether this cynicism is a symptom or the cause of an increase in mental health issues in young people, we know this: The rate of major depression in adolescents increased more than 50% between 2005 and 2017, and the rate of moderate to severe depression in college students nearly doubled between 2007 and 2018.

My generation, unlike Sanders or Fosters, was born into a world where the climate crisis was already well underway. Weve had it hanging over our heads our whole lives. I am tired of being told that this world I was handed is irrevocably broken. I understand that the climate leaders from generations past are tired too, and that the decades of work have disheartened some. The youth climate movement deserves hope and optimism regardless. To imply the impossibility of a livable future or teach a class on catastrophe without giving students the tools to emotionally process the content suggests not a radical awareness of the mental health issues discussed in Under the Weather but rather a blindness to them. We cannot expect people to take care of the world when they are not given the resources to take care of themselves.

The hypothesis known as depressive realism theorizes that people with depression see the world more accurately than their peers, that they are simply unfettered by positive cognitive biases. I dont think it matters whether or not the theory of depressive realism is accurate. (Science suggests it is not). I find it to be unhelpful, maybe even dangerous. If we view depression as an inescapable side effect of living in a damaged world, it may suggest to some that it is pointless to do the things necessary to take care of oneself, or that it is selfish to allow yourself rest while injustice persists and the seas continue to rise.

Doom and gloom do not a movement make.

Neither of those things is true. Whatever the root of depression, its symptoms can be treated. This isnt to say that all it will take is a few therapy sessions to stop being overwhelmed by global catastrophe, and much work must be done to ensure that everyone can have access to treatment. But you dont have to be in crisis to seek help. And we dont have to ignore reality to live fulfilling, happy, and productive lives. The suggestion that a person must either be miserable or ignorant, that we must either accept the weight of the world or turn our backs to it, not only lacks nuance but actively contributes to the suffering its proponents claim to want to address.

And if we really want to make progress on the climate front? Research by experts on climate change communication suggests, perhaps unsurprisingly, that people respond poorly to hopeless depictions of catastrophe. Suggesting readers should be depressed about the future results in more apathy than action. In other words, doom and gloom do not a movement make. Where is the joy or satisfaction in fighting for a world that is already damned? I want a different narrative to follow, one that encourages self-care alongside activism, that works intentionally to foster excitement for the future we desire.

Were talking about degrees here, literally, so there is no point at which we can no longer strive to make the future better than it otherwise would be. To Sanders and Foster, I say this: Tell me of your despair, but dont tell me to despair. The question of whether it is the world or the person who is ailing is too simple. The world is sick but it is not only sick. We all need healing.

Hope is not a happy accident. Hope is a right we must protect.

In one of my final college classes over Zoom in spring 2020, my professor, environmental anthropologist Myles Lennon, led us through a discussion of Braiding Sweetgrass, the awe-inspiring book by Indigenous scholar Robin Wall Kimmerer. Kimmerer writes of the endurance of Indigenous people: despite exile, despite a siege four hundred years long, there is something, some heart of living stone, that will not surrender. The climate crisis is not the first time a people has faced the end of the world. As we navigate this latest existential threat, we would do well to listen to Kimmerer and other Indigenous leaders. As my professor put it that day, existence can cohabitate with collapse. It is not one or the other.

I have a lot of decisions ahead of me. As I consider how I want to live my life, where to dedicate my energy, I refuse to accept the idea that I must sacrifice all joy to attend to the worlds problems. I know myself to be more helpful when I have addressed my own needs: needs for good food and good company, for hope, for long afternoons in the sunshine. I am grateful for the teachers that I have had in this movement, such as professor Lennon, and the people who have reminded me of all the reasons to imagine a brighter future. I know that hope is not a happy accident. Hope is a right we must protect. Hope is a discipline, according to Mariame Kaba, an organizer and educator building the movement for transformative justice.

The climate crisis is ongoing. And, also, a bird is building a nest in the eaves outside my window. Come spring, there will be new birth. In shaky hands, I hold these two truths together.

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Opinion | Don't Tell Me to Despair About the Climate: Hope Is a Right We Must Protect - YES! Magazine

Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times Published 5:23 p.m. ET June 16, 2021

Up until March 2020, Trevor Noah had spent nearly every night of the last 15 years in front of an audience. He hosted educational shows, game shows, awards shows, reality shows in his native South Africa. He toured relentlessly as a stand-up comedian before succeeding Jon Stewart as the host of "The Daily Show" six years ago and then still toured nonstop on the three days of the week he wasn't in front of the camera. I tell him that in the Before Times, no matter where I found myself on the road to Vegas, back East reporting a story, up north visiting friends I'd inevitably run across a billboard bearing his smiling face, promoting an upcoming show at some venue.

Host Trevor Noah on the red carpet at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards at the Los Angeles Convention Center, in downtown Los Angeles, on March 14, 2021.(Photo: Jay L. Clendenin, TNS)

"That's hilarious," Noah says, chuckling. "And I don't doubt it for a minute." We're speaking via Zoom, and Noah's in a corner of his west Manhattan apartment, his image resembling the way I've seen him for the last 16 months since "The Daily Show" became "The Daily Social Distancing Show" and he began broadcasting from a nook in that apartment. Only as it's 95 degrees in New York today, he's wearing a white T-shirt instead of what has been his signature quarantine attire, a hoodie.

When the pandemic hit last year, forcing Noah physically homeward and mentally inward, "The Daily Show" producers asked if he'd like someone to come to his apartment and build a set. Noah declined, and it wasn't a difficult decision. If he was going to be required to stay home, he didn't want to forget the gravity of the situation. So Noah simply set up a couple of iPhones in the corner of a bedroom where he has a couple of bookshelves (those are World Cup trophy souvenirs you see in the background) and a TV screen that's hooked up to an Xbox and PlayStation.

Over the years, Noah, 37, has used daily routines and goals to help him deal with anxiety and depression. The isolation of the pandemic erased those grooves. Monday became Friday. Wednesday became Sunday. Noah couldn't remember the day of the week, much less the date on the calendar. Noticing the slowly changing seasons outside his window provided his only real bearing. Playing "Call of Duty: Warzone" with crews of friends jumping out of virtual airplanes and shooting each other became a new routine, feeling more normal than the actual surreal empty streets of New York.

"Oh, I mean, it was terrible. Are you kidding me?" Noah says. "If anyone struggles with depression, if anyone's working through anxiety, you can do a good job of managing that. You can manage how you eat, you can manage how you exercise, how you get fresh air, how you associate with people. All of these things contribute to your mental health. Having it all stripped away at once took a toll on society that I don't even think we've begun to understand."

Bank on Noah though to lead the conversation toward awareness on that subject, just as he has done on "The Daily Show" through the last 16 months, talking about the weight of the pandemic, the viral videos of police killing Black Americans, the turbulence and turmoil of the presidential election, the Capitol insurrection and, dear Lord, every other aspect of the tumultuous time we've lived and continue to live through.

"Let's move on from some bad news ... to more bad news," Noah said during a transition in an early September episode that opened with the apocalyptic orange-hued skies of the California wildfires. He could have used the line pretty much any time during the last year. But somehow, Noah's calm voice and playful humor helped make the rolling nightmares a little less scary.

"I do it selfishly, because when I make people feel better, I feel better," Noah says of his attempts to help his audience navigate the news and, when appropriate, feel a tinge of optimism. "There's almost a self-fulfilling prophecy in that if you can make people feel better, then that means there is still hope. And if there's still hope, then you can still feel hopeful. So that cycle continues."

"2020 wasn't an awakening for Trevor," says "Daily Show" correspondent Roy Wood Jr. "A lot of shows had to make tonal shifts because of the time we were in. The only thing we shifted was the type of cameras we use."

"The Daily Show" was the first late-night show to broadcast from home when the pandemic began, and it may be the last to go back to the studio as restrictions ease. That return is inevitable, as is Noah's resumption of his stand-up dates. Things are returning to normal, whatever that is.

A few weeks ago, Dave Chappelle popped into New York for a handful of surprise shows and called Noah, inviting him to come to one. Noah rode his bike down to the Stand NYC comedy club near Union Square, just planning to watch. But he wound up on stage, and it was exhilarating and new, both for him and the audience. Everyone was out of practice doing this whole communal thing.

"I remember saying to the audience, 'You know I didn't prepare because I rode a bicycle to the show,'" Noah says. "'You don't ride a bicycle to something that might end in your failure, because then you have to ride home on a bicycle, and that's not exactly how you want to revel in your defeat.'"

This is a perfect Noah joke, because first, it's funny, and, second, it's analytical. Ask Noah a question and he will attack it from every angle. "Daily Show" showrunner Jen Flanz says his "mind is always going," and, indeed, Noah occasionally ends his thoughts with the term "et cetera," repeating it four, five, six times, basically acknowledging that A) he realizes he has probably already thoroughly addressed the topic at hand and B) he could still keep going because, in fact, there's a lot more to say.

What's occupying Noah's thoughts as the country reopens is how all that quiet time that was imposed upon him during the last 16 months may have changed him. He knows he is different. How could he not be? Flanz says she and Noah have talked about whether, once life returns to normal (knock on wood), people will fall back into familiar patterns or maybe fight to reclaim their routines or perhaps find themselves seeing things through a different lens. Noah believes he will move forward, actively asking: "Is this what I want to be a part of my life? Is that what I want to be part of my life?" And it might not be a yes or no answer. It might be a yes, but just a small part, a fraction of what it was before.

"I've spent over a decade working nonstop," Noah says. "And I mean nonstop. Which is a badge of honor in America. In many other parts of the world, people would say, 'You have a problem.' I've missed weddings. I've missed birthdays. I've missed funerals. Then something like this happens and you go, 'Man. I've missed a lot of life.' And so when you look back on those things, I can tell you I have no memory of me going, 'Ah, man, I can't wait to get back to the red carpet.' No. I can't wait to getting back to sitting in a living room with my best friends. I can't wait to get back to having a barbecue in the park. I can't wait to get back to celebrating a friend who's had a baby or celebrating a milestone in my siblings' lives.

"Those are the things that I've fallen into the trap of taking for granted, because you felt like those things were always promised and always going to happen, and I felt like a career was something that had to be now and had to be all the time," Noah says. "Yet, ironically, who would have thought: A pandemic would hit the world, the world would shut down and the one thing that wouldn't stop would be work."

Noah laughs. Because it's kind of funny, as bitter truths sometimes are. Flanz thinks Noah will find it challenging to regulate his love for performing and not revert to the habit of nonstop performing. Noah wonders about this too, knowing how much he misses audiences and how he feels that there's a part of his brain that's been dormant for the past year and a half. "I can actually feel it," he says. "I can feel neurons in my brain that haven't fired."

Can he find a balance between the euphoria he gets from sharing feelings and ideas with groups of total strangers and the small pleasures found in down time spent with family and friends? Probably? Maybe? Noah searches his restless mind and doesn't have a definitive answer. And he's truthful enough to admit that he doesn't know, an attitude that has made him an effective voice during this time of uncertainty. We can't say for certain how the last year has transformed us. It's too soon. But we can talk about it, explore it, attempt to understand it, learn from it, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

Read or Share this story: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/entertainment/2021/06/16/trevor-noah-ready-come-back-life-but-what-look-like/7714768002/

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Trevor Noah is ready to come back to life. But what will that look like? - The Detroit News

Workaholics are driven to work excessively.

As a culture, weve come to value growth and productivity, making paid work not only a necessity, but a central concern in peoples lives. Yet this attitude towards work is harming us more than its helping, with research showing that workaholism (also known as work addiction) is a growing problem in the industrialised world. And according to the findings of a recent study, work addiction is linked with poorer mental health.

Work addiction is a clinical condition characterised by an obsessive and compulsive interest in work. People usually work more than theyre required to, either by the workplace or because of financial need. Other characteristics include being concerned about their performance at work, rigid thinking and perfectionism, which is often projected onto others.

People with work addiction are driven to work excessively, despite the detrimental impacts this has on their personal health and wellbeing, and relationships. People at risk of developing work addiction often have low self esteem, experience doubt about their performance at work, or have obsessive compulsive personality traits.

Numerous studies have shown the negative impact of work addiction on mental health. But a recent study on workers in France investigated why work addiction happens to better understand the impact it has on mental and physical health.

The researchers looked at a total of 187 workers from a range of different occupations and demographics, who were asked to answer four different questionnaires. They found that high work demands and people who worked in high pressure roles for example managers with greater responsibilities were the most significant factors contributing to the risk of work addiction.

Where this was accompanied by working longer hours than required and having an obsessive approach to work, there was an even greater risk of developing work addiction. Women were also shown to be more predisposed to developing work addiction than men. Although its not entirely clear why women were more likely to develop work addiction, other research has had similar findings.

Workers with depression were twice as likely to develop work addiction compared to those without a mental health issue. Poor quality of sleep, high levels of stress and low levels of overall wellbeing were also identified as high risk factors.

Although this studys sample size was small, previous research has also shown that work addiction is associated with depression, stress, sleep disorders and lower mental health. Burnout and exhaustion were also reported.

Work addiction is more common in industrialised countries where work performance is a measure of success. This suggests that neoliberal ideas about work are influential in increasing the risk of work addiction. These ideas place pressure on intensifying workloads and performance at work in order to promote economic growth. They also focus on increasing a persons responsibilities at work.

Given the harms of work addiction, radical changes in both workplaces and society will be necessary. As I have argued before, this would require society to stop viewing work as a pivotal tool of performance and growth, and instead place greater value and importance on the health and wellbeing of the worker, both individually and collectively.

Support and change can actually happen in the workplace itself, which is why its important for employers to recognise and address work demands in a positive way. For example, one study has found that increasing job security and opportunities for development lowered the risk of work addiction.

Other studies have suggested that work-life balance interventions could reduce the risk or work addiction. For example, if workplaces actively reduce working hours in order to give employees a chance to spend more time with their family, it can actually result in better work performance. And, fewer working hours may also reduce family conflict for workers, as employees are able to engage in family time more meaningfully.

Promoting work-life balance has also been shown to increase both physical and psychological health, and personal resilience for workers. Balancing time and energy used on work and personal life helps people feel better subsequently both improving mental and physical health.

All this suggests that workplaces should develop work-life balance initiatives, provide opportunities for career development and increase job security to prevent work addiction from happening. These changes may also lower stress and absenteeism while improving performance.

But not all workplaces have these kind of strategies in place and they can be hard to implement because of our cultures focus on performance and economic growth. If youre concerned you have or are developing work addiction, address the problem now if possible.

Seek support at work by talking to managers and peers if you can, ask for performance feedback, or even see if there is a way you can work to reduce some of your working hours. Speaking to mental health and wellbeing services can also help. If you dont have support in your workplace, try talking with friends and family, and ask for their help in refocusing your time such as having them remind you to take breaks from work.

Of course, better work-life balance will help, but this can be a very hard thing to do as it requires adjusting daily patterns and changing how you think and feel. But if youre able to balance work with other activities such as seeing family and friends, exercising, or enjoying hobbies your mental health and wellbeing will improve.

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Work addiction can be harmful to mental health - The Conversation UK