If human beings are fundamentally social, needing companionship and community to flourish, this year’s pandemic put many of us to the test. Forced inside for months, separated from friends and family, becoming competent at virtual meetings and webinars—our new normal, ordinary lives would’ve been unrecognizable to ourselves just months prior. And in the midst of all this uncertainty, questions about mental health and wellbeing rose to the surface. Our guest today, Amanda Zelechoski, along with a friend and collaborator, began drawing on her research on trauma psychology to start conversations about the ways that this year has been odd, challenging, surreal, and in some very tragic cases, unhealthy or even lethal to vulnerable members of society.
