Welcome to our Summer 2021 newsletter. I hope you are all well and finding a way to take advantage of the summer weather and all that it brings, as we slowly put Covid (hopefully) in the rearview mirror and return closer to some kind of “normal.”
Returning to the Normal?
For many of us, “the new normal” may not look like the “old normal.” Many businesses have been affected by this pandemic, and many have made some changes in the way that business is being conducted. And of course, all of us have altered our lifestyle to some degree or another during these past 15 months. It will be a while before we will be able to tell which of these changes will become a more permanent fixture in some form and which will become a distant memory.
For those companies who are beginning to move people back into the office after more than a year working remotely, I predict that the re-entry process will be more stressful in many ways than when workers began working from home. Employees will be stressed at many points as they adjust to the structure, the demands and the social environment that are inherent to each workplace. Many have also been through a difficult time over the past year or so, and they may be carrying baggage from that. Not to mention the numerous conflicts and differences within the cultural discourse that have consumed and stressed many over this past year – elections, politics, protests, vaccines, masking, etc. (Rest assured, we will not get into that here…)
Almost from the beginning of this pandemic, we have had statistical evidence to confirm our subjective experience – that suicide, domestic violence and mental illness in general have escalated significantly during this period. Further, medical resources have been stressed to the point that many are not receiving the treatment that they require. The rate of suicide, which had already increased by 35% over the past 10 years, showed an immediate jump within the first couple of months of this pandemic, as early as June of 2020.
Further, medical resources have been stressed to the point that many are not receiving the treatment that they require. A result has been that many who have had a history of chronic mental health problems that had been generally managed adequately have decompensated, due to a combination of inadequate medical support and the breakdown of social and other support structures.
Substance abuse has increased significantly among all segments of the population. I suspect that there are those who have not actually been diagnosed as having an abuse or addiction problem in the past, but nevertheless may still experience difficulty managing their intake, such that it may have worsened when working from home – and could therefore cause issues when returning to the office.
As we head back to “normal”, there have been many references to the recent uptick in mass shootings in our society. There are many factors involved in this, but it is important to note that virtually all of these high-profile shootings that dominate our headlines involve someone who is suicidal. At least 30% of those who have attempted suicide have also been violent toward others according to some studies.
On this subject of mass shootings, I will refer to the excellent 2017 study by the FBI that looked at “Pre-Attack Behaviors of Active Shooters” that the (typically suicidal) perpetrators in these mass shootings generally displayed the same range of “concerning behaviors” that could have been recognized and addressed early enough to potentially prevent the carnage.
I am not for a moment suggesting that all who are suicidal are prone to violence toward others, nor am I suggesting that other factors (such as access to weapons) are not equally significant, but I do not believe that success in reducing these deaths will occur until we make suicide prevention a higher priority.
As we return to “normal”, I believe that we will have many challenges, some of which will be anticipated and some of which may surprise us. The past year has defied prediction, and the next one may be some of the same. Paying attention to our employees and early intervention remains key.
A return to “normal” will, of course, be a good thing and very welcomed overall, but it will also be accompanied by the resurgence of some old challenges and most likely, some new ones as well.
Marc McElhaney, Ph.D.
Critical Response Associates, LLC
