On the Edge of Tears

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“There are tears at the heart of things.” - Poet Seamus Heaney

For about 2 weeks now, this column has focused on events which seem worth crying about, at least for perhaps half of the country. Using the metaphor of the Statue of Liberty crying over the sudden job losses, immigration processes, threats to psychopharmacology, the climate, the environment, the continuing wars, and the like is at least being a witness.

These concerns also coincided with the book release in India of Doctors Do Cry by Ashish Goel. Thinking about doctors crying, though overt crying seems important but rare, we may always be a bit on the unrecognized edge of crying when the health and mental health in patients does not improve, but also tears of joy when patients do improve, especially unexpectedly. On their part, patients commonly do cry about their illnesses.

Today marks a couple of events related to tears of sadness and joy. It is Mardi Gras, the remnant of the Catholic custom of celebrating the last day of carnival season, preceding 40 days of penitential Lent. Unfortunately, high winds across the South are predicted by the downsized National Weather Service, winds that are calling for added safety precautions.

Perhaps serendipitously, it is also publication day of the book The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage by the Franciscan friar and ecumenical teacher Richard Rohr.¹ Ever since David Brooks wrote about him in his New York Times column on June 24, 2016, titled “At the Edge of the Inside,”² I have been reading Father Rohr’s Daily Meditations. Brooks had discussed individuals who serve at the edge of any organization, along entrances, boundaries, and bridges. The edge is a place, as Rohr pointed out in a pamphlet “The Eight Care Principles,” where you are freer to assess and address the organization in new and creative ways.³ That felt like the place I felt most at home in my organizational work.

On Sunday, in a preview of his new book, Rohr’s meditation was on “The Way of Tears.” As the only animal that sheds tears, human tears come in many situations—sadness, happiness, awe, and fear—and often unexpectedly. The phrase “tears of things” has appeared in many contexts over history, reflecting both tears in things and for things.

Rohr’s book examines the Jewish biblical prophets and mystics—edge leaders of sorts—who recognize that “All things have tears and all things deserve tears.” The prophets exemplify how “sacred criticism” can lead to a journey forward from anger to underlying sadness, to empathy, and to a compassionate way of loving in a hurting world, perhaps in many ways like our own.

As we move into tomorrow tonight, our President will provide an address to Congress. Let’s assess whether the address seems prophetic and in what ways. Whether religious-based or not, there also aways false prophets to consider. Whatever is conveyed in the address, hopefully psychiatry will come up with helpful responses and recommendations.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement 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 presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. 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. Rohr R. The Tears of Things: Prophetic Wisdom for an Age of Outrage. Convergent Books; 2025.

2. Brooks D. At the edge of inside. New York Times. June 24, 2016. Accessed March 4, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/24/opinion/at-the-edge-of-inside.html

3. Rohr R. The eight core principles. Accessed March 4, 2025. https://uploads.weconnect.com/mce/ac3478d69a3c81fa62e60f5c3696165a4e5e6ac4/THE%20EIGHT%20CORE%20PRINCIPLES.pdf