Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pandemic's Toll: 28% Of Americans Have Worried About Losing Their Homes
CBS News: Over A Quarter Of Americans Have Worried About Homelessness - CBS News Poll
The fear of losing one's home has weighed on the minds of many Americans at some point. A recent CBS News poll shows that more than a quarter say there has been some point in their lives when they worried about not having a place to live: this is true for 28% of Americans. And for some, that fear has become a reality at some point. Thirteen percent of Americans say that they have been evicted or have lost a home in their lives. Another 33% of Americans know someone else who has lost a home. (Backus, 5/20)
The Atlantic: The Pandemic’s Trauma Won’t Just Go Away
But there is another crucial difference between May 2020 and May 2021: People have now lived through 14 months of pandemic life. Millions have endured a year of grief, anxiety, isolation, and rolling trauma. Some will recover uneventfully, but for others, the quiet moments after adrenaline fades and normalcy resumes may be unexpectedly punishing. When they finally get a chance to exhale, their breaths may emerge as sighs. “People put their heads down and do what they have to do, but suddenly, when there’s an opening, all these feelings come up,” Laura van Dernoot Lipsky, the founder and director of the Trauma Stewardship Institute, told me. Lipsky has spent decades helping people navigate the consequences of natural disasters, mass shootings, and other crises. “As hard as the initial trauma is,” she said, “it’s the aftermath that destroys people.” (Yong, 5/20)
AP: 'I Was Afraid': Prince Harry, Oprah Discuss Mental Health
For Harry, returning to London to attend Prince Philip’s funeral last month meant once more facing a place where he felt trapped and hunted by cameras. It would be a test of his ability to cope with the anxiety that was bubbling up again. “I was worried about it, I was afraid,” Harry told The Associated Press during a recent joint interview with Oprah Winfrey to promote a mental-health series they co-created and co-executive produced for Apple TV+. He was able to work through any trepidation using coping skills learned in therapy. “It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds,” said Harry, the Duke of Sussex and grandson of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband Philip. (Rancilio, 5/21)
Axios: Sen. Cortez Masto: Funding Schools Can Help Improve Children's Mental Health
Funding schools, and specifically hiring additional counselors, can help address children's mental health concerns, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.) said at an Axios Event on Thursday. Demand for mental health services for teens has skyrocketed amid the coronavirus pandemic, though Cortez Masto said the country didn't have a strong grasp on the issue even before the virus started forcing schools to cease in-person classes. (5/20)
Concord (N.H.) Monitor: Moms Create Their Own Solutions To Stressors On Kids During The Pandemic
Over the past year, Kate Dinwiddie of Bedford has worried about the impact that isolation will have on her son Andrew, who is just 18 months old. Andrew was still an infant when social distancing became the norm, and his mother fretted that he was missing out on developmentally important interactions with other toddlers. “As quarantine and the pandemic went on, I became more and more concerned that he wasn’t getting exposure to the socialization and stimulation that is going to be reality when the pandemic ends,” Dinwiddie said. “I felt pretty trapped.” (Burch, 5/20)
