![]() At times, I have also had to step away from my advocacy and attempts to ‘fight the good fight’ in macro.’ I have used every therapy I know: medication, good sleep, calls home to mom (at times every day), daily walks with music, joining a gym, and what is best described as an ‘anger management course’ for economists. Care truly helps.Ĭovid was extreme stress for me, and stress tends to trigger depressive or manic episodes. I am open about my health condition and my care to encourage others who are suffering to seek support. Many people are good at hiding it, which makes it all the more important to seek help. Very few people knew about my struggles with mental health. In the outpouring of remembrances for Alan and Emmanuel, their colleagues repeatedly said that they would never have guessed of their internal battles. In recent years, economics has suffered a string of high-profile suicides, including Emmanuel Farhi’ s-a leading light in the next generation of macroeconomics. Had he lived, he would have shared the most recent Nobel Prize with his long-time collaborator, David Card. Alan was wildly successful by all professional metrics. I put “well with bipolar” in my Twitter bio in 2019 after Alan Krueger, a highly-regarded economist, committed suicide. People with mental health conditions deserve the same respect, support, and medical care. It is counterproductive to tell someone to “cheer up” or “it’s all in your head” or “you have no reason to feel this way.” We would never say that to a cancer patient. It’s also essential to understand people cannot solve their mental health conditions themselves. Their body turned against them, and after a fight, their body won. ![]() Those who lose the battle are not weak in spirit. These conditions are not the fault of the individual or their family. As with many physical health conditions, many mental health conditions are chronic, albeit episodic. I have been open about my mental health struggles because I do not want anyone to feel as alone and hopeless as I did. And shame makes people reluctant to seek help. We are each better for the Raskin’s openness. Another reason that discourages people from seeking care is the stigma surrounding mental health and the mistaken belief that people simply will themselves back to good health. The cost of care is often prohibitive since many insurance plans do not cover mental health services, and some people lack any health insurance altogether. Why don’t they get treatment? The reasons are many and pre-date Covid. Prior to the pandemic, young adults were already at high risk of poor mental health and substance use disorder, though many did not receive treatment. Compared to all adults, young adults are more likely to report substance use (25% vs. During the pandemic, a larger than average share of young adults (ages 18-24) report symptoms of anxiety and/or depressive disorder (56%). Young adults have experienced a number of pandemic-related consequences, such as closures of universities and loss of income, that may contribute to poor mental health. have reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, a share that has been largely consistent, up from one in ten adults who reported these symptoms from January to June 2019. It is also a threat to our mental health :ĭuring the pandemic, about 4 in 10 adults in the U.S. Get help, please.Įvery day we hear how Covid threatens our physical health-illness, hospitalization, long-Covid, and death. Please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 80 or contact other mental health professionals immediately if you are having suicidal thoughts. Warning: the post is about mental health and discusses suicide.
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