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COVID-19 in the wastewater

UW researchers track silent spreader in sewage

SEATTLE - As COVID-19 runs rampant in the Puget Sound, University of Washington scientists are tracking the virus in the one place most of us want nothing to do with the sewer.

Handling raw sewage is something PhD student Sarah Philo and post-graduate Angelo Ong do on a weekly basis, donning layers of gloves and other biosafety gear, including respirators. Its not for the wastewater, its for the virus living in it.

"Once we saw the pandemic starting to take hold, one of our first thoughts, in my mind, was that we should start measuring the virus in wastewater," said Scott Meschke, UW professor of environmental and occupational health services.

Meschke had initially refined the wastewater testing method working with the poliovirus. With a new outbreak in the Puget Sound, he was not surprised to find SARS-CoV-2 in sewage, the virus known in humans as COVID-19.

RELATED:King County to spend $7 million on COVID-19 vaccination sites, mobile vans

"Sewage is kind of the great composite sample, right, pretty much everything that passes through the body is going to exit one way or the other," he said.

He said it could hold one answer to tracking a silent spreader. Thats what hes trying to refine in his lab, with Philo and Ongs help.

Using weekly samples from three wastewater treatment plants in King County, the method to identify SARS-CoV-2 is "really low tech," according to Philo.

"Its also really easy so we hope that there arent a lot of barriers for people to be able to do this method," she added.

Using raw wastewater, Philo and Ong test the pH and make sure theres no chlorine in the sample, which could ruin the experiment. Then, its a combination of acid and skim milk to get the right balance. Philo said skimmed milk flocculation draws all of the viruses and bacteria present in the sample.

RELATED:All regions to remain in Phase 1 of new Healthy Washington reopening plan, state says

Part of the process includes the three samples going on a shaker machine for two hours. In total, the weekly testing is a full day of work for the UW students.

Theres talk, Meschke said, of wastewater being an early warning system of virus spread. Tracking the virus in King County samples since March, theyve found their own results mirror clinical cases.

"Definitely over the summer, when there were fewer COVID cases in the Seattle area, we were not getting as many detections in the sewage so it was definitely lower levels, below what we were able to find," Philo said. "And as the number of COVID cases has risen were definitely getting much more detection across all three treatment sites."

A point with the value of one indicates SARS-CoV-2 was detected at all three treatment plants. A point with the value of zero indicates we did not detect SARS-CoV-2 in any of the treatment plants.

Right now, the results tell us what we already know theres COVID-19 in King County, found in testing and down the drain. But theres more to tracking the virus than what has been recorded this past year.

"The prevalence is so high right now that we should expect to find it, but once we start knocking it down, this tool will be even more important to understand low levels of circulation in populations," Meschke said.

Its an indicator that comes straight from the pipes, not impacted by human behavior.

"The benefit of that is we pick up asymptomatic cases or we pick up people that arent seeking testing," he said.

He acknowledges the method, right now, is less useful sampling massive water treatment plants, which only tell them that theres COVID-19 in the county. The purpose of the research, he said, is to perfect a method that can be easily duplicated across labs around the country and world. The greatest use of tracking outbreaks, he said, will eventually be much closer to home.

"Nursing homes, dormitories, places like this where if we get a signal very close to the source, were able to immediately respond with additional follow up clinical testing," he said.

RELATED:Who's getting the COVID-19 vaccine next: A look at Washington's distribution plan

Opening an ultra cold freezer in the lab, Meschke takes us back to a time before doctors tested for COVID-19 in the U.S. Examining old frozen wastewater samples from February, Meschke said they were able to identify the virus in King County sewage, before testing and illness indicated the virus was spreading in the community.

As more of the population becomes vaccinated and people are eager to flush COVID-19 out of their minds, Meschke predicts testing will be less prevalent, allowing COVID-19 to silently circulate. The key to catching it in time may start with circling the drain.

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COVID-19 in the wastewater: UW researchers track silent spreader in sewage - Q13 FOX (Seattle)

Human Behavior

Social media may be widening the political divide in America – Wink News

January 13, 2021 medical

A clear divide in our country now stands after the attack at the Capitol on Wednesday. But did misinformation spreading across social media become the catalyst for this attack?

There is so much information out there including pictures and memes that make it onto our Twitter and Facebook feeds. Some of these photos claim that a group of men at the Capitol were Antifa members when that just isnt the case.

Those who study human behavior nationally and in Florida say social media is not the cause of the divide but it has helped the spread. And, it played a role in the Capitol Hill riot.

One second. One click. Then the person on your timeline that you disagree with is gone.

Dr. Laura Streffeler is a licensed mental health counselor. People dont necessarily go on social media for new information. They go on social media to read information about what they already know or believe, said Dr. Streffeler.

Streffeler is not alone in saying that social media did not cause the divide in this country, but Twitter, Facebook, Parler and Instagram certainly helped to grow them.

Chris Wright-Isak is a marketing and advertising professor at FGCU. They have algorithms that build on what you searched before. And they will send you more of that, he said.

Experts in misinformation say the process is familiar now, where people who want to believe something find validation via social media.

Katie Taylor is an avid Trump Supporter. There is no way anyone will ever convince me Joe Biden got more votes than President Trump, said Taylor.

Jarod Holt monitors extremist behavior online for the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Lab.

There were discussions about trying to get weapons into D.C. There were conversations about surrounding the Capitol, said Holt. And then in the last few days, the discussion shifted into even more extreme territory about taking matters into their own hands.

Now we have to ask: is there a solution to all of this?

Wright-Isak says there eventually needs to be some form of regulation. You have to eventually enact regulations that require the information to be labeled one truthful or not, he said.

But, is that realistic? Could it ever happen? He says it happened in other industries and mediums, so yes its possible. It happened in advertising. It happened in radio and television. What do you think the Federal Communications Commission is? Its a watchdog for truth, Wright-Isak said.

Social Scientists hope that Wednesdays events serve as a wake-up call. Yet, they arent too optimistic. Right now, they say too many people are simply switching to other platforms to find what they want to hear, where theres no line between fact and fiction.

For now, we just have to wait and see if regulations will be imposed.

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Social media may be widening the political divide in America - Wink News

Human Behavior

Study Shows Identifying Empathy Is Key to Increasing Diversity in Medicine, Improved Patient Care – PRNewswire

January 13, 2021 medical

Empathy assessments can help close the racial disparity at medical education institutions and reduce doctor burnout.

African American and Latinx Medical Students Score Higher in Empathy

The award-winning Project in Osteopathic Medical Education and Empathy (POMEE) has found statistically significant and practically important relationshipsbetween empathy scores and race and ethnicity in favor of African American and Hispanic/Latinx/Spanish respondents. Because empathy is positively correlated with medical school success and patient health, a more empathetic and more diverse healthcare workforce could lead to improved health outcomes for all patient populations, especially those from minority or underserved communities.

AACOM will host a live virtual forumwith the project's principal investigator and co-sponsors on Thursday, January 14 from 12 1 PM ETto fully elaborate on the study and answer questions from attendees. There is no cost to attend and registration is open to the public.

Implications for More Diverse Medical School Admissions

"At a time when African American and Hispanic/Latinx communities are disproportionately suffering from COVID-19, and when medical schools across the nation are working to more actively increase and prioritize diversity in admissions, we should test medical students not only for academic knowledge but also for empathy," says POMEE's principal investigator Mohammadreza Hojat, PhD, research professor in Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and director of the Jefferson Longitudinal Study at the Asano-Gonnella Center for Research in Medical Education and Health Care. "Research has found a significant association among Jefferson Scale of Empathy score, clinical competence, and positive patient outcomes. Our assessment can not only help medical schools select the medical students most likely to become successful and caring clinicians but can also help close some of the troubling racial gaps that persist among medical education institutions."

POMEE is sponsored by AACOM in collaboration with the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University and Leonard Calabrese, DO, Cleveland Clinic's R.J. Fasenmeyer Chair of Clinical Immunology and Theodore F. Classen, DO, Chair in Osteopathic Research and Education. For more information about POMEE, visit aacom.org/empathy.

About AACOM

The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM) leads and advocates for the full continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the public. Founded in 1898 to support and assist the nation's osteopathic medical schools, AACOM represents all 37 accredited colleges of osteopathic medicineeducating nearly 31,000 future physicians, 25 percent of all US medical studentsat 58 teaching locations in 33 US states, as well as osteopathic graduate medical education professionals and trainees at US medical centers, hospitals, clinics, and health systems.

AACOM provides leadership for the osteopathic medical education community by promoting excellence in medical education, research, and service, and by fostering innovation and quality across the continuum of osteopathic medical education to improve the health of the American public.

SOURCE American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine

http://www.aacom.org

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Study Shows Identifying Empathy Is Key to Increasing Diversity in Medicine, Improved Patient Care - PRNewswire

Human Behavior

Grey’s Anatomy: 10 Worst Times A Character Cheated, Ranked – Screen Rant

January 13, 2021 medical

While romance is a huge part of Grey's Anatomy, there have been plenty of times where the surgeons have crossed the line in the name of 'love'

Relationships on the hit ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy have always been complicated, reflecting the myriad complexitiesthat human beings face in daily life. Whether falling in and out of love, holding a candle for someone who's beyond reach,as well asthe dark, murky side of relationships, Grey's has shown it all.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 5 Characters Who Give The Best Romance Advice (& 5 Who Give The Worst)

The characters in this series, which is as much a relationship drama as it is medical, have been deeply in love but they have also cheated on their partners and been unfaithful at various times. Some of these creative decisions completely threw the arc while a few made somesense in the broader context. One must remember that infidelity, however undesirable, is still a very human behavior. However, that's not to say that the randomness didn't take anyone by surprise.

Alex Karev in season 1 of Grey's Anatomy was an arrogant and selfish jerk, who grossly lacked any social etiquette. It was no surprise then that he cheated on Izzie Stevens with the nurse Olivia after he let the pressures of the relationship get to him.

Although Izzie and Alex weren't formally together at the time, they were building to something good. Izzie was also the person who convinced everyone to give Alex a second chance after she saw a softer and more vulnerable side to him. In that light, the fact that Alex fooled around with other women while giving Izzie hope, was not cool.

Dr. Nathan Riggs appeared only for rather a short time at Grey Sloan Memorial. He was an ex-colleague of Owen Hunt's at the military, and the fianc of Owen's sister, Megan.

Megan and Nathan were both revealed to have cheated on each other. But Megan's side of the story was never really shown explicitly, whileNathan was berated time and again by Owen for having cheated on his sister. He was even revealed to have gifted Megan a necklace belonging to the woman he had cheated with. Although he did move heaven and earth for Megan after she was found alive, his history of cheating couldn't be erased.

Kate Walsh joined the medical drama as Derek's wife, bringing up the third angle of the love triangle that Meredith and Derek found themselves in. But even as the thorn in Meredith's flesh, Addison soon went on to be a beloved character and fans couldn't get enough of her.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 10 Characters We'd Love To See Return in Season 17

Addisonwas said to have cheated on Derek with his best friend Mark Sloan prior tothe timeline of the show itself. She then came to Seattle to put things right with Derek. However, their marriage was soon cut short when Derek cheated on her with Meredith. Of course, had Addison never cheated, the entire MerDer storyline might never have happened, but keeping that aside, it was pretty low of her to have an affair with her husband's best friend.

Owen proclaimed his love for Cristina more than once and he did indeed love her, choosing her over Teddy whom he had always had feelings for.

But when Cristina decided not to have children and even aborted Owen's child, the latter decided to hurt her by cheating. He hooked up with a friend of a patient, and later on, he has a long, traumatizing conversation about his unfaithfulness with Cristina. Seeing that Owen and Cristina were the second lead pair for a long time on the show, Owen's indiscretion was indeed disheartening.

One major case of infidelity happened before the series had started but continues to have a big impact, even today.

Meredith's mom Ellis, had had a long drawn out affair with Richard Webber, even though she was married to Thatcher Grey. Ellis and Richard were in love but their relationship destroyed Meredith's childhood and her relationship with her biological father, Thatcher. Moreover, Maggie Pierce turned out to be Ellis and Richard'sdaughter. Although the revelation shocked everyone, it was nice to see Meredith discover she had more family.

If Ellis cheated on Thatcher then naturally Richard cheated on Adele too, only he did it more than once. His wife was sweet and gentle, forgiving him for his affair with Ellis Grey.

RELATED:Greys Anatomy: 5 Times Richard Webber Was An Overrated Character (& 5 He Was Underrated)

Richard might always be the "Chief" to all at Grey Sloan, but his behavior towards Adele was intolerable. Fans will always agree that Adele deserved better.

Callie and Arizona were a lovely couple and fans rootedfor them through all the ups-and-downs. From Callie's accident while she was pregnant, to Arizona having her leg amputated after the devastating plane crash in the season 8 finale, these two had indeed been through a lot.

But what didn't make sense was Arizona cheating on Callie with the craniofacial surgeon Lauren Boswell (played by guest star Hilary Burton). While Arizona did struggle in the aftermath of the plane crash, fans couldn't understand what made her cheat.

Another cheating scandal that occurred in Grey-Sloan has to beTeddy cheating on Owen with Tom Koracick. The usually cool-headed, rational Teddy suddenly decided to throw all caution to the wind when she began a physical relationship withTom, whom she was casually hooking up with before Owen proposed to her.

Teddy's uncharacteristic behavior has had fans in an uproar. Of course, Tom seems to actually care for Teddy so if the writers decide to make Koracick beat his current illness, then he might have a chance with Teddy after all.

One of the worst and most heartbreaking instances of infidelity onGrey's has been Derek's moment with his research fellow, Renee.In seasons 10 and 11, Meredith's dream relationship with Derek went through a rough patch as the latterleft for DC.

RELATED:Grey's Anatomy: 5 Times Meredith And Derek Were The Perfect Couple (& 5 Times They Weren't)

Meredith feared the worst and she was almost right, for Derek did end up kissing Renee - although it's possible this kiss opened his eyes and drove away any confusion he might have had regarding him and Meredith. He did come running back to Seattle, but for MerDer shippers his little moment with his Research Fellow was devastating. Of course, Derek did fall for Meredith while he was still married to Addison, but to see him on the verge of cheating on Meredith herself never went down well with fans.

Probably the worst case of infidelity on Grey'sthat was not just uncharacteristic of those involved but also completely meaningless in the individual story arcwas George O'Malley cheating on Callie.

George was goofy, adorable, and good through and through, so his sudden decision to sleep with Izzie while still being married to Callie seemed bizarre. True, he and Callie weren't exactly the perfect couple, but that didn't seem to justify the story arc where he acted on his impulses with Izzie. Especially as Callie had given him absolutely no reason to hurther.

NEXT:Grey's Anatomy: Why Season 1 Was The Best Season Of The Show

Next How I Met Your Mother: 5 Characters Wed Want To Be Friends With (& 5 We Wouldnt)

Surangama, or Sue, as she is called by many, has been writing on films, television, literature, social issues for over a decade now. A teacher, writer, and editor, she loves nothing better than to curl up on a lazy afternoon with her favorite book, or with a pen and a notebook (a laptop would have to do!) and a foaming cuppa tea on the side.

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Grey's Anatomy: 10 Worst Times A Character Cheated, Ranked - Screen Rant

Human Behavior

Human Connection Will Always Be at the Center of Hospitality – MarketScale

January 13, 2021 medical

Driven by consumer desires for new experiences, innovative technologies and environmental impacts travel is changing. Host Sarah Dandashy explores the technologies and logistics that power travel and the brands that build unforgettable experiences.

Bashar Wali is the quintessential hotelier with a long history in the hotel industry. He is the CEO and Founder of This Assembly, Partner at Provenance Hotels, and Founder and CEO of Practice Hospitality (a Hotel Management company that he fondly refers to as a Nurture Company).

More than just the business of hotels, Wali always emphasizes the human element of the hospitality industry. While acknowledging that hotels can offer many unique experiences, he said what truly matters is how hoteliers make guests feel. Wali has even done a TEDx on Human Connection.

The business that were in is hospitality. And the clear distinction is service is what you deliver, and hospitality is how you make people feel, Wali said.

And he has a point. All too often, hoteliers focus on the bottom line and forget what the real essence of hospitality is.

Why are hotels successful? It is because they know their why. They know their purpose, and they think long term.

I want to be able to say, look, we are in the business of creating an incredible place for people to work and an incredible place for people to call home away from home, Wali said.

And that, as Wali said, defines success.

Looking ahead, Wali shared a few of his thoughts on the future of the industry. Instead of focusing on trends, he dove into the notion of human behavior and understanding how we, as humans, shift and influence future changes.

Of course, Wali shared a bit on what hoteliers should be focusing on moving forward. First, the booking process should be smoother. Hoteliers need to focus on being better retailers. Secondly, hoteliers should also remember that they are in the feelings business. If they focus on anything else, hotels just become a commodity. And hotels are so much more than thatthey are an experience.

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Human Connection Will Always Be at the Center of Hospitality - MarketScale

Human Behavior

What Fairytale Are You? Take This Quiz To Find Out – Book Riot

January 13, 2021 medical

Flatiron Books, publisher of Tales from the Hinterland by Melissa Albert.

A gorgeously illustrated collection of twelve original stories by the New York Times bestselling author of The Hazel Wood and The Night Country. Journey into the Hinterland, a brutal and beautiful world where a young woman spends a night with Death, brides are wed to a mysterious house in the trees, and an enchantress is killed twiceand still lives. Perfect for new readers and dedicated fans alike, Tales from the Hinterland will include gorgeous illustrations by Jim Tierney, foil stamping, two-color interior printing, and two-color printed endpapers.

Carl Jung and Bruno Bettelheim popularized the application of fairytales to psychology and personality traits. In The Uses of Enchantment, Bettelheim uses Freudian psychology to describe the existential quandaries children are working through based on their favorite fairytales. Children reading Cinderella, for example, are working through the Oedipus complex and sibling rivalry. In Snow White, children are beginning to notice how they cause parental turmoil and are starting to separate themselves from the parental unit. According to Bettelheim, phallic symbols pervade fairytales, such as the beanstalk in Jack and the Beanstalk. Its since been revealed that Bettelheim abused the children placed under his care and plagiarized much of his work from psychiatrist Julius Heuscher. Despite this, his work remains popular and has influenced both fairytale scholarship and therapy practices.

Carl Jungs research into archetypal images in myth and fairytales and how they relate to dreams and the subconscious sprouted a field of psychoanalysis and folklore scholarship perhaps best exemplified in Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales by Jungian psychologist and Carl Jung student Marie-Louise von Franz. In Shadow and Evil in Fairy Tales, Franz explores the lessons about human behavior and thinking tucked away in fairytales, and how important it is to acknowledge these stories as being part of a persons core being.

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Today, fairytales have successfully been used in therapy sessions, from couples therapy to childrens therapy to narrative therapy. (If you want to read a fictionalized account of how fairytales are used in therapy, check out this beautiful Charles Yu short story published in The New Yorker: Fable.) And beyond the scholarly implications of using fairy tales as personality indicators, their universality and familiarity make them both an easy and fun way for anyone to assess their and other peoples personalities.

Whether you prefer dark and twisted fairytales or their Disney counterparts, this quiz will assign you a fairytale and tell you a little bit about your greatest strengths and weaknesses in the process.

And if youre looking for more fairytale content, check out these posts:

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What Fairytale Are You? Take This Quiz To Find Out - Book Riot

Human Behavior

What makes people believe in conspiracy theories? – RADIO.COM

January 13, 2021 medical

PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) Conspiracy theorists are often dismissed on social media. But some QAnon supporters were among those who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, and a growing number of Americans believe in conspiracy theories. So why do people believe these ideas when facts show they arent true?

Many conspiracy theories are dangerous, said psychologist Dr. John Grohol.

When you get into the strongest believers, it can really start looking like someone who has been indoctrinated into a cult, said Grohol.

He studies human behavior and technology and said people who believe conspiracy theories put information together that doesnt make sense in order to fit what they want to believe.

And they tend to be more fearful, anxious and narcissistic.

People who tend to think their view of the world is the one that matters most. People with narcissism engage in more paranoid thinking. And they tend to believe that the actions of other people are targeted toward them, he explained.

There are more people buying into these falsehoods because of social media.

So if you have that kind of out-there theory, you can find other people who share that same belief far more easily than you could have 20 years ago on the internet, he added.

Since the pandemic, people have been more isolated and spending more time online, which is also contributing to the problem.

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What makes people believe in conspiracy theories? - RADIO.COM

Human Behavior

Cybersecurity sales: Do you have what it takes to succeed? – Help Net Security

January 13, 2021 medical

Technology is at the heart of the world economy, and were moving into a new age of business where its technology not people is becoming the differentiator, says Terry Greer-King, VP EMEA at SonicWall.

Though he started his working life in electronics engineering, the world of sales and marketing really lit a fire, and hes been growing his career for years by purposely seeking sales experience across as many mediums as possible.

Currently the VP EMEA at SonicWall, Greer-King landed the position at the network security company after a string of top cybersecurity leadership roles at CheckPoint, Cisco and Akamai.

A sale of a cybersecurity solution is not quite the same as in many other areas of technology, because the risk and therefore the opportunity is constantly evolving, he told Help Net Security.

Sales success should be based on helping customers protect themselves in line with their view of risk and associated profile. Nirvana has yet to be achieved, through, so there is constant sales opportunity to continue to work with customers to constantly adjust their defenses. This extends to connecting as far as possible not just on current state, but projecting the future and considering risk as an integral concern along with how a business transforms digitally.

Also, we should keep in mind that as the cybersecurity industry has grown from identifying particular threats and developing and marketing appropriate solutions, the bad actors have been developing their industry as well, so protection is not as straightforward as implementing specific technology solutions.

The bad guys are extremely agile and motivated, which means that nothing about the cyber world should be fit and forget. My advice to customers is to constantly check and validate their defenses against what should be a constant appraisal and rating of risk. In short, cybersecurity is an ongoing, unending process, and defense is a combination of human behavior and technology that should be deployed in a considered way.

As the potential reward for malicious behavior increases and the drive towards digital transformation accelerated by the remote working requirements of the pandemic restrictions continues, the future looks even more challenging. The requirements to secure and protect will become ever greater.

It is crucial that cybersecurity transcends from a bolt-on fix to being at the core of business thought and strategy, he points out. Technology is moving to the centre of all that we do. Consequently, we are becoming increasingly reliant on it and its security.

With a career in sales and customer-facing functions that stretched across many markets industrial automation, personal computers, office automation, networking, and cybersecurity Greer-King says that one of the keys to success is to be constantly growing your knowledge.

Ive learned much over the years, often through failures. It seems to me that if you dont fail, youre not pushing hard enough. Another challenge, of course, is to reflect and learn from the experience. Learning is gradual, but will happen only if youre open to new things, able to listen and are constantly pushing boundaries, he told Help Net Security.

Another thing thats essential for a successful career in sales is an appreciation of interdependence.

Independence is a trait often looked for in particular functions like sales, but it focuses on the self. Success, on the other hand, is built though cooperation and teamwork. I think one of the greatest lessons I learned through the years is that you have to make sure youve got smart people around you smart people, aligned with the overall strategy and working towards a common goal, can achieve great things.

Finally, he says he has benefited hugely from a year-long senior leader development program in recent years, which taught him that successful leadership isnt just about strong leadership from the top, but also hinges a lot on ones ability to adapt to circumstances and people.

Leadership requires listening, motivation, implementing process, guiding, mentoring and so much more, he concluded.

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Cybersecurity sales: Do you have what it takes to succeed? - Help Net Security

Human Behavior

Privileged Behavior: Mental illness is not why Trump became emotionally untethered from humanity – Milwaukee Independent

January 13, 2021 medical

For years, people have been talking about Donald Trumps mental state, throwing around the term mental illness as a lazy catch-all for his erratic behavior, inexhaustible cruelty, and inexplicable recklessness. In the wake of the election, a growing choir has assembled singing the same refrain.

This has always struck me as particularly damaging, because it assumes something dangerous: that all mentally ill people are vengeful, bigoted, unrepentant sociopaths. We are not.

As one of the 51 million Americans who battles a brain affliction, I can attest to the reality that the vast majority of us are not oblivious to the feelings of other people or unaware of the results of our actions we are in fact, highly sensitive to them. It is precisely our illness that makes us feel the pain around us deeply, that causes us to notice the fractures and grieve the wounds of the world that many people are unaware of.

We are more emotionally tethered to humanity, not less.

Those of us navigating the daily minefield of depression, anxiety, PTSD, and bipolar disorders, do so while being profoundly burdened to be sources of healing and restoration here, to be agents of equity and fairness. We war with our demons while simultaneously fighting for other people in peril. Our illness and our kindness coexists every single day.

Mental illness does not make people more prone to racism, it doesnt make them predisposed to misogyny, it doesnt increase their enmity toward humanity. Donald Trumps life is not characterized by such things because hes mentally illbut because hes a really terrible human being who lacks empathy of any kind.

Simply calling Donald Trump mentally ill assumes that his predatory behavior, his inability to accept reality, and his complete lack of accountability in these days are a product of a brain affliction. They are not. They are a symptom of sustained and stratospheric privilege.

Trump is the product of a life continually shielded from accountability; one where money and power have always afforded the luxury of buying or suing or lying or intimidating his way out of any responsibility for his criminality or any consequences of the injuries he causes. His entire existence has been spent in the cloistered penthouse opulence of gold-plated privilege, where reality is whatever he can pay for. He has never been inconvenienced by the truth in the way that he is now and soon will be.

This is why were here: why nearly two months after a historic election loss, a sitting president is still titling at windmills of fraud and generating flagged tweets and assailing the courts and its why hes calling Secretaries of State, trying to muscle his way into overturning the will of the people, like a cut-rate film noir mobster shaking down a store owner.

It is not just because he is mentally ill that he is willing to discard democracy and obliterate the law (and ignore a pandemic all the while), it is because he has never had to lose (even when he has lost) and he has never had to reckon with a reality not of his own making.

Not only that, it is because he is buttressed by a cadre of similarly privileged human beings who recognize that they live in the same fragile house of cards and that their survival is tied to his. They not only recognize his desperate machinations, they share them. It is not a collective mental illness on display in his party, it is simply a shared vile, ugly, garden variety lust for power that will hold on to it at any cost.

Yes, Donald Trump has undiagnosed and or untreated mental illness, but these things do not explain him. His wealth, his whiteness, his upbringing, and an experience of the world that has made him impervious to other peoples suffering, explain him.

I hope we can be more precise when talking about Trump and people like him, because the twenty percent of the world afflicted with mental illness deserve better than to be compared to a man whose complete lack of goodness and profound contempt for other human beings is something we will never be afflicted with.

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Privileged Behavior: Mental illness is not why Trump became emotionally untethered from humanity - Milwaukee Independent

Human Behavior

Clergy gather in Newport to process grief from Capitol attack – newportri.com

January 13, 2021 medical

Laura Damon|Newport Daily News

NEWPORT The lead pastor of Evangelical Friends Church of Newport in Middletown wept silently in his office when he saw the images of the chaos that erupted in Washington on Wednesday, when a pro-Trump mob breached the Capitol building.

I was devastated, Rev. Paul Hoffman said in a virtual prayer rally Thursday afternoon, live-streamed on Facebook from the Community Baptist Church in Newport. He was among other local clergy members who spoke at the event, to offer words of comfort and prayers.

We want to process our grief, Hoffman said, while explaining the purpose of Thursday's prayer rally. Not in destructive ways, but in constructive ways. Healthy ways.

Images of our Congress-people and their staff huddled in the chamber, this should never happen. And we pray that it never happens again, Hoffman said.

We want to show you a positive, faith-filled, Christ-centered example of what it looks like when things are broken, Hoffman continued. Unity is not uniformity.

Rev. Lauri Smalls, the transitional pastor of Community Baptist Church, sang God Bless America before she spoke.

To God, she said: Youve given us this wonderful gift of being American, a group of people made up of different ethnicities and opinions. God, you have woven us into a wonderful fabric, but we have forgotten that…We have forgotten that our neighbor is our friend.

Other clergy members spoke of the nuances of human behavior, the frustrations of some groups of people, and their own conflicting feelings. Love for their country juxtaposed with a frustration and anger towards it.

Hoffman, in a prayer, said: We have been politically polarized…we have been divided. And despite different tribes and tongues…different educational backgrounds…our desires and our hearts are the same.

Father, Hoffman continued. We recognize our culture cannot change until we change.

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Clergy gather in Newport to process grief from Capitol attack - newportri.com