We Are Still a Traumatized Nation

For this second annual rerun of the same weekly video, it still seems like we are a traumatized nation. Not only do patients still suffer delayed reactions to pandemic trauma and losses, but national trauma related to gun violence and climate change continues at a similar pace or worse. In fact, our gun deaths reached an all-time high in 2021 and last week there was a mass shooting after a high school graduation in Richmond, Virginia. In the United States, we are also getting the air pollution coming downstream from Canada due to their wildfires—a result of their atypical weather.

In addition to these macro traumas, micro traumas are involved in the escalation of burnout, which has spread from the epidemic proportions in physicians to the rest of our workplaces and parenting. Appropriately so, the Surgeon General noticed and commented on some of our social problems related to trauma and loss, including loneliness and social media. Let’s work with him over this next year about all these social psychiatric problems.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who has specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry. A prolific writer and speaker, he received the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Assembly of the American Psychiatric Association in 2002. He has recently been leading Tikkun Olam advocacy movements on climate instability, burnout, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism for a better world. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.