
Sunday Inspiration

Katy Perry has revealed that she is experiencing waves of depression during the pandemic. While Stephen Fry, who has been outspoken about his struggle with bipolar disorder, admitted that he’s tried to commit suicide at least 3 times.
“There’s no future. There’s no sense of anything ahead of you. And you have to hope something will stop you. In my case it was just failed attempts and waking up in a hospital.”
Fry cited music, namely Beethoven, as a coping mechanism.
Somehow, I tested negative for COVID-19 while my husband was positive. Not sure I really believe the negative result but I’m recovered pretty well overall so I’ll just take it for what it is.
As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the LAist reports that the mental health of frontline workers, such as health care workers and first responders, may be in jeopardy. The article cites Dr. Joshua Morganstein who alludes to possible “psychological disorders, like depression and anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.”
KARE-TV 11 in Minneapolis-St. Paul reported that police brutality of unarmed Black Americans affects the mental health of Black Americans as a whole. Research published 2 years ago shows trauma is an illness that can negatively impact mental health. In this case, police killings negatively affected the mental state of Black adults. Alexander Tsai, a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said that the trauma can manifest as “depression, anxiety or irritability” in adults.
WJLA-TV/ABC7 interviewed Dr. Alban Gaultier, an associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Virginia, about the potential for an antidepressant drug, fluvoxamine, to be used in the fight against COVID-19. The drug shows promise by “preventing[ing] dangerous overreactions by the immune system” induced by COVID-19. A clinical trial is currently underway at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. A possible answer could emerge as soon as 2 months from now.
Of course I picked a horrible time to try to reboot my blog. I came down with fever, chills, and cough on Thursday and went and got tested Friday. Now I’m waiting for my results but I’m pretty sure I’m positive for COVID-19. So let’s try this again in mid-June when I’m feeling better and not quarantined with a recovering husband and caring for an infant.
So what better time to bring back a mental health blog? 2020 demands it.
Baby steps, though.
For those who are interested, I am chronicling my bipolar depression saga over at This Journey Is My Own. The first post is Journey of My Bipolar Depression. You can read all my posts on mental illness on that blog by clicking here.