Is The COVID-19 Pandemic Cure Really Worse Than The Disease?

The coronavirus pandemic catapulted the country into one of the deepest recessions in U.S. history, leaving millions of Americans without jobs or health insurance.

Life coaches and motivational speakers often treat positive thinking as the key to happiness. Self-help books tend to promote a similar message, with Norman Vincent Peale’s bestseller The Power of Positive Thinking claiming

We seem to have mastered the perfect recipe for chaos: a global ecological emergency, humanitarian crises and to top it off, a pandemic of epic proportions

Shortly after George Floyd’s death, one of my friends texted me that Floyd wasn’t necessarily a bad person, but, pointing to his prior stints in prison, added that “he wasn’t lily-white either.”

A few years ago, I discovered with wonder a new form of magic: expressing appreciation to others for something they had done. And modern life offers us a thousand different opportunities to manifest that magic.

Many of us spend a great deal of our life rushing to get places. In the process we do clumsy things, get embroiled in impatience and irritation, and sometimes cause accidents. In our haste to get somewhere, we miss being somewhere, and never seem to get anywhere.

You may have noticed that some people have responded very differently to new rules on lockdown and social distancing. Some seem appalled. Other reassured. What might account for these differences?

With residents in ten Melbourne postcodes banned from non-essential travel until at least July 29, the need for continued vigilance is clear.

Need a habit to get through trying times? Try solitude. Ever since the rainy season retreats of the Buddha 2,500 years ago, sages have celebrated the transformative power of being alone.

Bemoaning uneven individual and state compliance with public health recommendations, top U.S. COVID-19 adviser Anthony Fauci recently blamed the country’s ineffective pandemic response on an American “anti-science bias.”

Virtual assistants are increasingly popular and present in our everyday lives: literally with Alexa, Cortana, Holly, and Siri, and fictionally in films Samantha (Her), Joi (Blade Runner 2049) and Marvel’s AIs, FRIDAY (Avengers: Infinity War), and Karen (Spider-Man: Homecoming).

How can you be happy in this moment if you continue to choose to be angry and resentful? Thoughts of bitterness can't create joy. You can never be free of bitterness as long as you continue to think unforgiving thoughts. Forgiving yourself and others will release you from the prison of the past...

Living behind a glass wall can be lonely. You can see the others out there, yet you somehow remain separated from them. Your wall may be called "I'm not good enough" or "No one understands me or loves me". These glass walls have a way of magnifying the negative. Yet whatever you see through the wall is only the...

Two Theranos employees – Erika Cheung and Tyler Shultz – spoke out about their concerns regarding the company’s practices, even though they knew they could face lasting personal and professional repercussions.

This month I'm going to talk about the emotional bridges and what we can do to safely cross the river. I usually discuss the three bridges as they pertain to communication. However, it occurred to me this morning that I needed to expand out my vision of the Attitude Reconstruction Three Bridges to meet the emotionally fraught times we are all experiencing...

There have been numerous reports of people deliberately licking products and surfaces in supermarkets and filimg it. These “licking videos” are then often posted on social media sites like TikTok, Snapchat or YouTube for all to see.

The traditional bar is a complex social space and serves so many functions.

The advent of 5G has raised many concerns among people, to the extent that anti-5G movements have emerged in various countries in recent months.

Everyone has experienced guilt at one time or another. In fact, millions of people are burdened by feelings of guilt of all sorts.

One feeling in particular merits a special note: anger. If this feeling is a problem for you, you're not alone. It seems that modern life is full of poor expressions of anger.

One of the hallmarks of obsessive-compulsive disorder is contamination fears and excessive hand-washing.

Living with the virus has also taught us new tricks, pushing us to come up with new ways of how to shop, work, learn, socialise, queue, pray, play, and even how to move and interact with one another.

During the current COVID-19 pandemic have you been wondering why you’re getting headaches more often?

For the last three months, around two million people have “shielded” themselves against the novel coronavirus by staying indoors, on recommendation of the UK government.

Ever since the coronavirus spread across the world, suspicions have proliferated about what is really going on.

Think back to life before stay-at-home orders. Does it feel like just yesterday? Or does it seem like ages ago – like some distant era?

Let’s face it: We’re all under stress right now. The uncertainty and constant health threats surrounding the coronavirus pandemic have upended our lives.

I am feeling isolated. Is this a state, or an emotion? Rather than getting into the semantics of language, I will ask another question: what does isolation feel like?

Hope is an optimistic attitude based on expectations of positive outcomes in one’s life or the world at large. A person who has a high level of hope has healthier hab­its, sleeps better, exercises more, eats healthier, gets sick less often, and is more likely to have less depression and to sur­vive a life-threatening illness.

As we slowly emerge from government-imposed lockdowns, we find ourselves forced to renegotiate some of the spaces that used to be the most familiar to us.

Tribalism has become a signature of America within and without since the election of President Trump. The nation has parted ways with international allies, left the rest of the world in their effort to fight the climate change, and most recently the pandemic, by leaving the World Health Organization.

The genre “What would X do?” – where X stands for a noted figure in history, say Jesus or Dolly Parton – is silly. But

We have all suffered, and will suffer, our own falls. The fall from youthful ideals, the waning of physical strength, the failure of a cherished hope, the loss of our near and dear, the fall into injury or sickness, and late or soon, the fall to our certain ends. We have no choice but to fall, and little say as to the time or the means.

Many of us are tempted to change jobs, houses, or spouses, and sometimes that works. Yet it’s not unusual that when you get to your new situation you find it to be simply a repeat of the old one. In many cases you didn’t need to change the situation. You just needed to change the point from which you were looking at it.

States are beginning to open up their economies after successfully slowing the spread of the coronavirus. Much of the credit for that goes to Americans dutifully following prescribed behavior.

Few works of art are as iconic as The Scream, by the Norwegian artist Edvard Munch (1863–1944).

From churchgoers to nursery school children, video calls, conferences and quizzes have become a lifeline at this time.

All being well, restrictions will continue to be lifted in the weeks and months to come, allowing us slowly to return to some kind of “normal”.

Take something as fundamental as our experiences of space: our mobility has become severely restricted – reduced to jogs or walks a few kilometres around our homes.

Since Republicans, on average, are five times more likely than Democrats to believe it’s safe now to resume normal business activity, reopening the economy has often been framed as a partisan issue.

A very large number of people in the UK have been complying with coronavirus lockdown rules and staying at home, according to recent study.

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, people’s anxiety levels shot up. Daily reports were coming in about the number of new deaths, there was global chaos and people had to be persuaded to stay inside.

If we could see our angry emotional reactions clearly, it would become obvious that they deplete us and narrow our life. Yet, in spite of the fact that we hurt ourselves and others with our anger, we hold on to this restricting emotion with a puzzling tenacity.

We cannot escape our subconscious mind, but we can use life as a treasure map to unlock the secrets hidden within the dark corners of the psyche. These secrets direct the course of our lives, and like tyrants hiding behind smoke and mirrors they chart a course for their own benefit...

What’s important to appreciate about resistance is that it is often not intentional but the result of what’s going on in the more subtle, hidden parts of your unconscious mind. Most people I meet are usually aware of the surface-level results of resistance, but they live unaware of the underlying reasons as to why they resist and end up feeling the way they do.

There’s nothing like a worldwide pandemic and its incessant media coverage to get you ruminating on the fragility of life.

As the world fights the novel coronavirus pandemic, our strongest weapon right now is physical distancing.

When the UK became the European country with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths earlier this month, there was renewed criticism of how it had handled the crisis.

Even if we escaped getting sick from the coronavirus, we are all sick of staying at home, practicing social distancing and wearing masks.

I genuinely believe that after some thirty to forty years of deepening our consciousness and attending to our self-improvement, we are now more prepared to address the issue of forgiveness than we have been at any time in modern history.

The conspiracy theory video “Plandemic” recently went viral. Despite being taken down by YouTube and Facebook, it continues to get uploaded and viewed millions of times.

In all likelihood we want to have happy thoughts and for the mind to be calm and peaceful. We don’t want to have unhappy thoughts and we don’t want the mind to be distracted, agitated or bored. However, we are constantly judging, evaluating and assessing...

Trying to find ways to make the most of time in lockdown has motivated many people to learn new skills, polish up old ones, and tackle old to-do lists.

In essence, blaming or pointing our finger at someone else is saying that we are totally absolving our Self of having any responsibility in the matter -- whatever it is. At the same time, we are automatically and unwittingly assigning ourselves to the miserable role of "victim."

As well as attacking immune systems, COVID-19 has severely disrupted every aspect of society. It has altered the way we work, play, learn, exercise, shop, worship and socialise.

Grieving is an experience almost everyone will go through at some point in their life. And is something we often have no control over.

Across Europe, schools are opening, cars are back on the roads and people are returning to their daily commutes on public transport.

The media is replete with COVID-19 stories about people clearing supermarket shelves – and the backlash against them.

Have you noticed grabbing an extra bag of chips at the supermarket? Or eating more frozen dinners than you used to? Or even eating snacks that you haven’t eaten since you were a little kid?

Fiction is a powerful force in shaping social understanding and, in the 20th century, a number of novels shaped philosophical discourse and influenced the way people think about the world.

Consider the following brain teaser: A bat and a ball cost $1.10 in total. The bat costs $1.00 more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?

Philosophers and neuroscientists agree that if there is an objective reality, human beings can’t perceive it: philosophers refer to objective reality as a perception independent of any conscious awareness.

What is anger? It's only a game. Something has come along and contradicted your ego -- that's all that has happened.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a massive public health and economic crisis, but it is also reshaping how we see ourselves and the social world around us.

For many people, the most distressing part of the coronavirus pandemic is the idea of social isolation.

The effects of the coronavirus pandemic will be “imprinted on the personality of our nation for a very long time,” predicted Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The news acts as our eyes and our ears, with its reporters scouring the land to bring back stories – stories we rely on to help us make sense of the world we live in. But the stories they most often bring back focus on war, corruption, scandal, murder, famine and natural disasters. This creates a perception of the world that does not necessarily reflect reality.

Only when one is capable of viewing the despicable characteristics of an offender then asking oneself "Where do similar qualities reside in me?" that one is can make significant strides in the journey of forgiveness.

Anxiety, depression, loneliness and stress are affecting our sleep patterns and how tired we feel.

Humans are intensely social creatures. We all need company and social contact. But for many of us, being at home for long periods with a small group of people – even those we love best – can become frustrating.

Suppose you are on a trial jury trying to decide whether the defendant is guilty. You are discussing the case with your fellow jurors who you know have exactly the same evidence as you, and are just as good at assessing the evidence.

There remains near-universal backing for the coronavirus lockdown among the UK public. In our study, nine out of ten people support the measures, including seven out of ten who strongly support them.

Amid the global spread of COVID-19 we are witnessing an increased focus on gathering food and supplies.

Whenever Martha had to deal with someone who was getting on her nerves or was seriously upsetting her, she was supposed to think, 'Peace be with you!'

Much of the media coverage of COVID-19 is focused on bad things happening. It is very easy to accuse people of bungling when you have 20-20 hindsight and it makes good headlines, but is it right?

The coronavirus pandemic is changing the way we work, but it’s also telling us something about what work means to us and our communities.

This is a confusing and, frankly, scary time for a lot of us. There’s so much contradictory information, and the “right” thing to do yesterday is now the “wrong” thing to do today.

As we do whatever we can to stop the spread of coronavirus, we are being forced to change old habits and mundane daily acts, such as avoiding shaking hands and touching each other.

A combination of despair, fear, and betrayal will cause someone to lash out against real and imagined enemies, causing more of the same in others. It is a vicious cycle indeed. A cycle of hatred unleashed can wreak destruction for generations to come.

Social distancing is both necessary and hard. If my Facebook news feed and anecdotal experience in my own family are at all representative of larger trends, adolescents are especially feeling the pain.

Many of the beliefs that play a fundamental role in our worldview are largely the result of the communities in which we’ve been immersed. 

Large numbers of people around the globe have been forced into solitude due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, social distancing is utterly at odds with our drive for social connection, the cornerstone of human evolution.

Scary health stories about COVID-19 pour out of the media floodgates every minute.

The Dalai Lama caused quite a stir at the 2009 Peace Summit in Vancouver. He said that “the world would be saved by Western women.” His statement received a range of responses, but many women found it empowering, and it catalyzed women-focused initiatives.

What does it mean to be a banker, lawyer, doctor, educator, not-for-profit leader, or any other professional? For many people, it is a debilitat­ing experience of separating our genuinely loving, warm, compassionate selves from the hard, ruthless, determined-to-win persona that is demand­ed in our workplace.

During one of my daily walks with my toddler, when we passed his favorite playground, I noticed a new sign warning that the coronavirus survives on all kinds of surfaces and that we should no longer use the playground.

Certain traits of little kids’ play could signal future aggressive and antisocial behavior, researchers report.

With the coronavirus pandemic quickly spreading, U.S. health officials have changed their advice on face masks and now recommend people wear cloth masks in public areas where social distancing can be difficult, such as grocery stores.

Early indications suggest more men are dying from COVID-19 than women – although some countries, including the UK, are not publishing data on this.

There are so many ways that we can apply courage in our lives. Courage to speak one's opinion, to stand up for what is right, to face tough issues head on, to pick oneself up after an injustice, and to not necessarily do as everyone else does. Courage to be true to oneself.

The wisdom of non-attachment is most applicable when dealing with life’s problems: whether small irritants or major life losses. The secret is to befriend our problems and create new relationships with them.

In an address on Wednesday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison expressed his dismay at the hordes of “panic buyers” sweeping supermarket shelves clean across the country:

After asking more than 3,000 students about kindness, I’ve learned a lot about just how children and adolescents understand and enact kindness, especially at school. The results might surprise parents and educators.

One of our patients was recently talking about her anxiety around the coronavirus epidemic. This woman’s stress was understandable. She had survived a serious infection with swine flu, but only with a prolonged stay in intensive care.

There is nothing lucky about a pandemic. All of us living through the present one can agree it’s frightening, upsetting, and increasingly surreal. Life as we know it has been severely disrupted and promises to remain so for a while.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused tens of thousands of deaths around the world and pushed major economies into a tailspin.

New Zealand has now reached a midway point of a comprehensive four-week lockdown and there have already been some rule breakers.

Forgiveness is radical. Both forgiving and asking for forgiveness go against deeply ingrained psychological and political truths. We fight against it. We reject its premises. We think we want to be -- or at least, want to appear to be -- blameless at all times. By forgiving another...

People are currently being bombarded with reports of the daily death toll from coronavirus. Practically every news website and channel displays the number prominently at all times.

The world as we know it may never be the same. The global economy has slowed, people are living in isolation and the death toll from an invisible killer is rising exponentially.