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NOVEMBER 6, 2020
AREYOUOK?
AIKEN-AUGUSTA’S MOST SALUBRIOUS NEWSPAPER • FOUNDED IN 2006
AUGUSTARX.COM
Life is sweet, except when it isn’t, and it isn’t for many people right now. There are a thousand factors contributing to the current situation, and most of them start with the word coronavirus. Many people have had their life’s plans derailed or destroyed, at least for the foreseeable future. Millions have lost their jobs or a portion of their income, and millions more are grieving the hundreds of thousands of deaths attributed to the virus. Harvard University’s somewhat awkwardly named Human Flourishing Program, established in 2016, has been attempting to use empirical data to scientifically chart the elements that help humans thrive and flourish, things as diverse as health (physical and mental), financial and material stability, personal safety, friendships and relationships, housing, and people’s current perceptions of their own happiness and life satisfaction. They conducted their most recent surveys in January and June of this year. In other words. pre-pandemic and several months in. As you might guess, the yardsticks show some significant drops in the things humans need to flourish. The health, happiness and financial stability scores each dropped by about a third, indicating overall increases in psychological distress are common. Of course, many people don’t need a Harvard study to tell them life is extra challenging in 2020. The more important question is, what can we do individually to get back to flourishing, and help others do the same? Here are a few suggestions. • As suggested by our lovely mask-wearing friend, there are some key ways we can protect our mental health. Start by raising your defenses: don’t let just anything into your mind. Strictly limit your news consumption to an hour a day, or perhaps to one of the three major network’s evening newscasts only. They only have 30 minutes, so there’s no time for endless debates, arguments, and analysis. If you want COVID updates or health information, get it from respected and impartial scientific sources, not the open mic world of social media. • We reported in this newspaper a few months ago that the World Health Organization was against social distancing. They still are; they say physical distancing is the way to go. Social distancing is the last thing we should be doing right now. Isolation and loneliness are not good for people who want to flourish. Good Please see ARE YOU OK? page 3
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