SURVIVING OUR CATASTROPHES

The renowned psychiatrist shows us how coming to terms with the pandemic requires a change in thinking.

National Book Award winner Lifton, now 97, has written scores of books, mainly dealing with the effects of trauma. He believes that our society has yet to fully come to terms with the Covid-19 pandemic and its enormous consequences. He draws on the stories of Hiroshima survivors (the subject of his classic 1968 book, Death in Life), Vietnam veterans, and Holocaust survivors to illustrate the importance of finding meaning as a crucial part of psychological recovery—and physical recovery for those dealing with the long-term effects of the disease. Recovery is by no means easy, and the Hiroshima survivors (known in Japan as hibakusha, “explosion-affected persons”) had to deal with feelings of guilt as well as the loss of loved ones. Some became activists campaigning against nuclear weapons, and others became artists or writers. The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, a half-destroyed building, provided a focal point for individual and communal mourning. The Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., is another example of how national traumas can be given expression. As such, a lasting monument to the pandemic victims, as proposed by the activist survivor organization Marked by Covid, among other entities, could help the nation move through the grieving process. A national day of remembrance would also provide a sense of unity. However, Lifton argues lucidly that the real key to recovery from the pandemic is a fundamental change in our collective mindset. We must move toward "the formation of a sense of self based significantly upon one’s connection to humankind.” In a thoughtful, pithy, and inspiring narrative, the author shows how “catastrophe calls on us to bring the mind to bear upon the most unpalatable truths of our historical epoch, to expand the limits of imagination on behalf of survival.”

Written with the authority of experience, this book offers a viable path to true recovery.