Thread by @karenraycosta

I'm doing some research this morning on long-term collective traumas...

So many people are saying to me that they feel like they're at a breaking point, along with everyone around them. That they feel worse, not better. I thought this @insidehighered piece captured this really well (thank you students).

insidehighered.com/advice/2021/11…

@insidehighered This idea that while we're managing individual crises, that everyone around us seems to be too. The whole of this is greater than the sum of its parts. What do we know about collective traumas that can guide us through this?

This article from someone whose family was impacted by the 1918 flu pandemic has interesting insights:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…

"There’s something particularly difficult about losing someone in an epidemic. It’s often sudden and frightening, and it’s depersonalising. Your individual tragedy is just one of many and there’s little comfort in being a statistic."

This chart continues to fascinate and concern me, as it doesn't capture the length of the impact of a long-term pandemic. What happens when you're approach a two-year anniversary and you're also still experiencing the impact?

#TraumaAware

I am wondering if, god help us, the term "pandemic" has lost its meaning. I'm wondering if talking about this as a "disaster" might be one way to get through to people with ostrich syndrome?

SAMSHA has an entire section of their website dedicated to disaster management and resources: samhsa.gov/dtac

This poster feels important, and I wonder if sharing this with leaders/admin/everyone would help to open up some of these blocks (post-pandemic, back to normal) that we're seeing.

#TraumaAware
#HigherEd

Of course, there's nuance to what gets defined as a disaster, and you can read more on that here: items.ssrc.org/covid-19-and-t…

This is all to say that there are no easy answers. But I continue to see this trend toward individualizing trauma reactions to COVID (not shocking), and I think we've got to push back on this and look at the collective impacts.

Whole is greater than sum of its parts.