Items

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  2021-06-27

  Pandemic lockdown gives a new opportunity towards homeless mental health. A study from Spain

  While the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered mental health, see https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/page/mental-health, I hope that there could be benefits to mental health as COVID rates around the world drop. It is now more convenient than ever to partake in counseling services from the comfort of your room, especially if you have social anxiety or pandemic anxiety. Unfortunately, statistics are not out as of March 2022 that demonstrate that mental health is improving with waning COVID rates, instead counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists seem busier than ever. While telehealth meetings are convenient, wait times and schedules are full of the backlog of people whose mental health was affected by the pandemic. I wanted to find an example of a positive outcome on mental health through COVID's global sweep, especially as COVID wanes. Attached is an example of a study in Spain that focused on a group of homeless in Spain that were in lockdown. "More than 60% of them presented mental disorders and within 8 weeks they were visited in person 2–3 times...Finally, 51.8% were linked to social and health care services and 37% to mental health resources, which can constitute a step forward in their reintegration and normalization." They argue that if it was not for COVID and these efforts, these homeless people may not have been diagnosed and helped. The paper concludes that this study is useful for the future because it shows how under immensely stressful situations, primary and secondary interventions worked. This can be repeated without a pandemic. While the pandemic was very stressful, it reaped some benefits such as a new focus on mental health, new methods of talking with trained professionals, and studied like this that show data of improving mental health in times of stress.
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  2022-03-08

  Eddie Case on Anderson Cooper

  This link goes to an Anderson Cooper interview with Eddie Case, an Arizona man infected with Covid, placed on a ventilator and respirator then placed in a medically induced coma for 20 days. When he woke he had no idea why he was in the hospital. I met Eddie Case yesterday when he shared his COVID Story with me at the Arizona Historical Society's Marked by Covid memorial event. His story is in the archive as well. The interview originally aired on July 16, 2020.
• 2020-11-30

  Becoming a Care-Giver During a Quarantine

  While walking outside in early March, my husband suddenly bent over, grabbed his chest, and gasped for air. We got an emergency appointment for an electrocardiogram (EKG) and a sonogram, which were scheduled about one hour apart. While undergoing the sonogram, the doctor who had read the EKG burst into the exam room and exclaimed, "You have to take him to the hospital NOW. Drive slowly—don’t rush. They’re ready for him; go in through admissions, not emergency." A few days later, Arnold underwent open heart surgery—a triple-bypass procedure. After his first week of recovery, his hospital nurse informed me that I was no longer allowed to visit because of pandemic safety measures. Complications arose, so Arnold stayed in the hospital for 23 days, while I remained at home able to communicate with him only by phone, and unable to talk to his doctors and nurses. Arnold was finally released under the condition that he would participate in cardiac rehabilitation but, on the day of his release, all of the rehab facilities closed due to the pandemic. So the doctors; their assistants; and physical & occupational therapists explained, by phone, what I needed to do to become Arnold’s care giver and therapist at home. This, in addition to having to learn how to nurse the 1-inch wide by 1-inch deep hole in his leg from where they had removed the veins they used for his bypass — the stitches had broken loose. In the weeks that followed, I drove Arnold to the office for his follow-up visits with the surgeon, but I was not allowed to go in with him. I, the care-giver; pseudo nurse; and physical & occupational quasi-therapist, was prohibited from seeing the doctor and his assistant while they examined my husband and gave instructions about how to continue his recovery. Instead, I sat in the parking lot while my husband insisted that these medical professionals conference me in by phone. I received oral instructions over my cell phone about how to modify Arnold’s ongoing care, but with no demonstrations. So I did not know if I was doing things correctly until his next visit, when they would correct me and provide more detail about how to keep him alive. During this time, all encounters involving other human beings were my responsibility, while Arnold remained in quarantine. I remained vigilant—or, more accurately, constantly on edge—about not bringing the virus into our home, sterilizing myself as well as all groceries and packages that crossed our threshold. I had to replace my wedding band with a thinner one because of the skin damage that formed from so much hand-washing. Once the surgeon released Arnold to his cardiologist, we began video-visits—at last, I was allowed into the appointment—virtually. The cardiologist urged me to invent activities my husband could do around the house that would take the place of formal occupational therapy. Quite a challenge, since Arnold was prohibited from lifting anything that weighed more than five pounds so he wouldn’t pop the wires that now held his sternum together—wires that could puncture his vital organs if broken. No pressure. Fortunately, Arnold survived his surgery, and we both survived his unorthodox post-op care. He can now lift up to 25 pounds and, just yesterday, he asked when I was going to "stop coming up with all of these crazy projects" for him to do. I told him to take it up with his cardiologist. We’re approaching normal again. Now we’re anxiously awaiting the release of the COVID-19 vaccination.
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  2020-07-30

  The Fight for Second Chances

  As COVID-19 threatens the safety of inmates and staff in the Arizona Department of Corrections, families with incarcerated loved ones are pushing for the state to release some non-violent offenders early. So far, they have not swayed officials... but in November, voters will have a chnace to decide whether certain non-violent offenders should be able to earn time off their sentences. This story discusses the challenges of political activism amidst a pandemic.
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  2020-04-20

  Sober Living

  I am residing in a sober living house following rehab for alcoholism. My sober date is Feb 14 - and I have been living in a house of ten ASICS in recovery now for 6 weeks. I will say after 40 plus years of drinking, and now one day at a time, lessons learned in rehab and recovery are coming in very handy. We start every day with a 7 am iremote 12-step meeting, and since being under ‘house arrest’ have had plenty of time to meet informally, prepare meals, and walking - my primary exercise now. I notice the overflowing recycle bins when walking - had I not sought treatment for my alcoholism I would no doubt be living a bottle 24x7 during the last month or so, since my work has ground to a halt. I think we were deluded in thinking we used to know what tomorrow and the future would bring. Know we know we don’t have a clue, and never really did. It’s out of our control! I am a huge fan of the serenity prayer, and recommend it to all - including my agnostic friends! God, Give me the serenity to,accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference. One day at a time! I with you peace and serenity!