PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS
Readers have asked how I come up with the topics for the hundreds of weekday columns that have been posted since this column started in 2021. Writers often say that we are a vessel for what we write. I sort of fit that but, for me, what I write about usually seems to me to be the result of a serendipity.
Serendipity is often defined as: The close occurrence of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Below is what happened in that sense for today's column.
Serendipitous Inspiration
Last Wednesday morning, I awoke after about 14 hours of sleep with a mild, but weird illness. I felt a little sorry and worried for myself. I had begun to wonder what I might write about in a column about Monday’s combined and seemingly contradictory Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Day. My wife had left on the Today Show on NBC. It was the third hour, which I never watch, but my attention was immediately caught by hearing the new co-anchor, Craig Melvin, talking to Lonnie Ali, the late wife of the late boxing champ and conscientious objector Muhammed Ali.
She was talking about compassion, including self-compassion. Compassion, according to Merriam-Webster is an “act of capacity of sharing the painful feelings of another with a desire to alleviate it.”
She mentioned how important compassion was to her husband, both before and during his struggle with Parkinson disease. For example, one day a man in disheveled dress passed them without saying a word, and then Ail suddenly ran to him and gave the man all the money he had. Lonnie asked him why. He answered:
“He looked like he needed it.”
Now, given his boxing skills that he still had at that time, Ali was likely not in as much danger as others might have felt in that situation, but the compassion was undeniable.
Compassion is essential to psychiatry and psychiatrists. We have to have compassion to appreciate the pain of our patients and be devoted to relieving that pain. Empathy is needed to best understand the patient; then compassion should stimulate our therapeutic actions.
Many religions and other value systems emphasize compassion. Buddhism, in particular, emphasizes compassion for our inevitable suffering.
At the end of the discussion. Lonnie Ali asks individuals to take a Compassion Pledge [Sidebar].3 We can all take this pledge at any time, including as part of the inauguration process this Monday. It is also a rare confluence with Martin Luther King Day, just like we had with last Christmas and Hanukkah, which stimulated the essay contest for peace that was posted in a prior column. I imagine Reverend King would embrace any emphasis on compassion during for such a day, or any other day for that matter.
The first “Ali Compassion Report” released today,1,2 Friday, in honor of what would have been his 83rd birthday . This compassion endeavor involved responses from individuals (N= 5417; aged 18-72) across US 12 cities. The resulting report indicated:2
- Approximately 60% felt that there has been a decline in compassion since 2020;
- A decrease in empathy toward marginalized groups, with 1 in 3 respondents noting empathy for all people (lowest compassion was for individuals convicted of crimes, migrants in the US illegally, and those in higher socio-economic classes); and
- Self-compassion was lower in women than men.
Together, The results indicate what needs to be done to enhance compassion over the next 4 years.
One obstacle is that it is hard to be compassionate toward those who do harmful things to others. Minimally, it is best to at least consider that these individuals are reacting to internal suffering and see if they are amenable to addressing that. Nevertheless, the destructive behavior is not to be condoned.
The Ali Compassion Pledge (SKILL Framework)
Sign the pledge.3
In honor of Muhammad Ali, I pledge to practice compassion rooted in courage, action, and justice. I commit to:
Self-Compassion: Caring for myself so I can better care for others, following Ali’s example of inner strength and resilience.
Kindness to Others: Embracing everyday opportunities for kindness, knowing that small acts can create ripples of change.
Including Everyone: Fighting injustice and standing with marginalized communities, just as Ali championed humanity.
Leading in My Community: Taking compassion action locally, inspiring others to lead with empathy and courage.
Lifting the Nation and the World: Promoting compassion and justice nationally and globally, in the spirit of Ali’s humanitarian legacy.
As the pledge notes, “It will take every one of us to make a difference… Let’s turn compassion into a daily practice and a powerful force for justice, healing, and unity.”3
Serendipities and Compassions
As I think about Muhammed Ali, Parkinson disease, and compassion toward others and oneself, I think of my brother-in-law, who is coping with the illness, and his caregiving wife, my younger sister.
Speaking of family and serendipity, I experienced a rare double serendipity if we start with the prior column about near death experiences (NKEs). After reading that column, my same sister wrote me:
I recall that mom had a near death experience in the hospital…when we were told she might not make it… she said she saw a bright light…it was a positive experience.
That was the first time I heard that! My mother was full of compassion toward others and her own chronic bedridden heart illness. I must have learned much about compassion from her. Serendipitously or coincidentally, her memory is a compassion blessing for me and all who have known about her.
Dr Moffic (he/him/his) is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry, and is now in retirement and refirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.
References
1. The Muhammad Ali Index. The 2025 Compassion Report. January 17, 2025. https://aliindex.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/The-2025-Compassion-Report.pdf
2. Ali Center Releases Groundbreaking Study on Compassion in America. Media Advisory. January 17, 2025.Accessed January 17, 2025. https://alicenter.org/ali-center-releases-groundbreaking-study-on-compassion-in-america/
3. Champions of Compassion Pledge. Accessed January 17, 2025. https://aliindex.org/get-involved/pledge/
