A few days in and it’s a wrap. Mychal Threet and “library joy” for the win.
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Category Archives: health
Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
After a bit more lively Michigan-Ohio State second half, and a relatively low-scoring Apple Cup, some PressingPausers had the audacity to call my football acumen into question. Dare we ask, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about?
I’m glad I was wrong about the fate of the hostages. Granted, those released so far are just a fraction of the total, but I was afraid all of them were going to be killed. Dare we ask, are the humble blogger’s geopolitical smarts right up there with his football perspicacity?
Being so young-in-spirit and healthy, I figured why get jabbed this fall. So now that I’m sick, dare we consider the fact that my medical science/public health aptitude leaves a lot to be desired?
This Is Not The Way To Help Depressed Teenagers
By Darbe Saxbe. Filled with important insights.
Check In On Those Around You
Molly Seidel—Tough As Nails Millennial
If I had a dollar for every time one of my Baby Boomer peers bashed Millenials as lazy and soft I could afford to retire. In Monaco.
Don’t read this profile of Molly Seidel if you want to continue to wallow in uninformed, negative assumptions about an entire generation of young adults.
For me, Seidel’s story stitches together almost everything I’ve learned about mental health and subjective well-being from my Millennial writers over the last two decades. Put differently, her story is about much, much more than professional running.
Seidel, the second American and eighth overall in yesterday’s Chicago Marathon, qualified for the Paris Olympics next summer. More importantly, she had fun and felt great about her performance.
Some Lunch Spots Better Than Others
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‘You Are Not Alone’
Check out our YMCA’s “You Are Not Alone” mural. Because I’m so outgoing, I chatted up the artist while she was outlining it. Turns out, there’s a movement of “You Are Not Alone” artists who want to use wall murals to instill hope and connection while fostering more discussion of mental health.
I suspect their murals are more likely to accomplish the later than the former. I’m just not clear on how the murals might spark social connection which social science increasingly suggests is as close as there is to a loneliness panacea.
Do not mistake my lack of clarity, or even skepticism, as criticism. These are kind and caring people with the best of intentions.
Booster Postscript
I knew there was real downside wading into the vax debate, but I didn’t expect a PressingPauser to spring into action with a reasoned rebuttal.
A decidedly non-knuckle head Pressing Pauser wrote to me, “This material cut and pasted below is from NPR on how long the protection lasts. You seem to have addressed only the mild symptom category, not the risk of severe responses. I see no suggestion that anyone should or would get this shot ‘every 2 months.’ As a renowned blogger with tremendous influence over many many readers (well, maybe a few), you should consider the fact that you and your ‘non-knucklehead recently retired doctor friend’ may have cherry picked a bit.
From NPR—How long will protection last?
“You’ll get a boost in immunity within about two weeks after getting the shot that could reduce your risk of coming down with COVID – and that protection will likely last for a few months. It should also make you more likely to get a more mild case if you do get sick.
The boost in protection against severe disease – the kind of scary symptoms that can send you to the hospital – should last a lot longer. Exactly how long depends on a variety of factors including your immune system, your health, your age and your prior exposures to both the vaccines and infections. But for many people, the hope is the COVID shots can be annual, like flu shots.
“It will markedly increase your protection against getting very sick for about a year or so,” says Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California San Francisco.”
The point is so well taken, I will in all likelihood get the new jab. Thanks to the reader for taking the time to deepen the discussion. That said, comparing me to Kyrie Irving was totally uncalled for. Except for the ball handling skills.
What The Hell ESPN?
Our sensitivity to mental health challenges is a two step forward one step backward process.
ESPN’s interview of Aryna Sabalenka after she lost the women’s final match was a huge, high profile step backwards. She dominated the opening set and melted down in the second and third. Immediately afterwards, she was understandably distraught at the magnitude of her collapse. Never mind though, the ESPN analyst kept asking increasingly pointed questions while pressing the microphone to her lips. She laughed incredibly uncomfortably and struggled to put a coherent sentence together while intermittently turning away and putting her face in her hands in an attempt to hide. And yet, the analyst pressed forward with more questions. It was grossly inappropriate and entirely unnecessary. Just go to Coco for shitssake.
Today there’s footage of Sabalenka repeatedly smashing her racquet into the locker room floor minutes after the on-air interview. Unclear whether she was lashing out at her play or the analyst’s utter cluelessness.
Do better ESPN. A lot better.
How To Promote Vegetarianism
What influences people to go vegetarian?
The take-away. Don’t chalk the bike path with pro-vegan bromides, which is leaflet-like; instead, talk to them.
Pressing Pause 