“When reality does not match our best-laid plans, we may fall into a tailspin. One patient complained about how the pandemic restrictions upset her summer plans and said, ‘My whole world has been turned upside down.’ We experience a painful withdrawal, a feeling more anxious, angry, and depressed when our plans are upset. When my patients suffer from failed expectations, I remind them of an AA quote: ‘The road to disappointment and resentment is paved by expectations.’ We become so upset because we have become unwittingly slaves to our ideas of how time should unfold. – excerpt from Life, Liberty, & Covid-19
Addressed to anyone suffering emotionally and searching for meaning in the Covid-19 pandemic, this book seeks to help flatten the curve of anxiety, depression, and anger. People are mourning many losses: health, loved ones, way of life, and economic wellbeing. Some feel more overwhelmed than others. Some are terrified of the unknown losses yet to come. All live in the shadow of death with no end in sight.
This book suggests that this crisis is both a danger and an opportunity for individuals and the nation. The choice is to remain in the dark cave of fear, sadness, and anger or to ascend to the mountaintop of wise minds and compassionate hearts to view a panorama of struggles and the will to fight on. Proposing that growth and healing come only through facing adversity with openness and courage, this book offers insights and practices to transform our distressing emotions into medicine for healing and growth.
Among the questions explored are the following:
- How do we live with uncertainty?
- How do we adjust to unwanted change?
- What can we learn from our fears?
- What is our attitude toward work?
- How important is our lifestyle?
- Why are we so lonely?
- How do we live in the shadow of death?
- Whose life really matters?
- How do we use our freedom?
- How do we forgive?
“an oasis of sanity in the midst of the craziness brought by the pandemic”
Dennis Ortman (Ph.D., University of Detroit-Mercy; graduate degree in theology, Gregorian University, Rome) has been a clinical psychologist in private practice in the Detroit Metropolitan area for over 20 years. Before that, he was a Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of Detroit for 14 years. He works with patients on issues at the borderline between psychology and spirituality, employing a mindful approach to therapy.
On sale at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and select book retailers
July 4, 2021
Order direct from MSI Press website: www.msipress.com/shop
For more information or to contact the author for media commentary, email [email protected]
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