Taking the Mental Health Beat to Another Level

• Author: Joseph P. Beckman

MENTAL HEALTH & WELLNESS

By Joseph P. Beckman, Liti gation News Asso ciate Editor

Taking the Mental Health Beat to

Another Level

By the time this hits the mai l, we will be approach-

ing the one year “ann iversa ry” of the COVID-19

pandemic. Many fol lowers of th is column may have

COVID-19 readersh ip fatigue. Oh well, like my dad

used to say, “Skate on the thin ic e, son—it’s the

smoothest.”

I think, i n retrospect, he had an exper tly dark sense of humor.

That’s for a different ti me and couch. Here and now, “experts”

are all over the map about what 2021 wi ll bring. I am no expert,

but we will receive a vacci ne somewhere on the “rollout” sched-

ule, though how safe a nd effective is yet to be studied.

A vaccine is wonderfu l, but another question to consider

is, has the pandem ic helped some of us already build up other

immunitie s? By focusing on the potent ial of a vaccine, are

we ignoring or disc arding these other forms of resili ence that

have built up during 2020?

Seeking Serenity?

The year 2020 has b een a year beyond our control. If there

was ever a time “to accept the t hings I cannot change, cour-

age to change the th ings I can, and w isdom to know the

difference,” it is now. Serenity m ay be why I nd the uncer-

tainty of th is past year “fun” as I re ect at the end of the hol-

iday season. Af ter the dishes are wa shed, leftovers divide d,

and short try ptophan-induced naps t aken, I am consciously

practicing grat itude, an activity that costs us o nly time,

focus, and a pract ice we all know is healthy for us.

But I Don’t Have the E nergy for a 2020 Rep eat . . .

Keeping a mental hea lth piece timely was easy before

COVID-19. Now I assume th at th ings may change at a

moment’s notice in any number of ways.

On the upside, maybe we are se eing light at the end of

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Published in Litigation News Volume 46, Number 2, Wint er 2021. © 2021 by the Americ an Bar Association. Re produced with per mission. All rights res erved. This infor mation or any portio n thereof may not be c opied or disseminated in any

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