Published in the June/July 2025 Edition
By Janan Broadbent, Ph. D.
What is the one trait that gives us the strength to get through tough times, through breakups, losses, challenges of jobs, family, or unstable times? It is resilience, defined as the ability of a person to adjust to or recover readily from illness, adversity, major life changes, etc., buoyancy. We are in the middle of unfathomable changes in our lives, and this trait is going to be doing a lot of work.
While June is Pride month, and there have been several celebrations where good times were had, there have also been unimaginable events in our country where authoritarianism has been raising its ugly head. I hear the anxiety and the sense of unreality from friends, patients, neighbors and all over social media. How do you, dear reader, cope with this, when there are daily assaults on the LGBTQ+T community? Maryland is a blue state but nonetheless, there are areas where you see signs that indicate otherwise.
It is crucial that we remember that we are not alone, that there are millions of like-minded people who do not want a tyranny. This is where we need to tap into our resilience, remembering the numerous times we bounced back from a failed test, or a broken romance, or a layoff from a job. Reaching out to people we know renews our depleted resources, gives us mental and even physical energy to get through the crisis. If and when you feel down and dismayed, that this turmoil may not end or worse times may be around the corner, remember, as the Persian proverb goes, this too will pass, because just as you got through previous bad times, you will get through this too. You are the same person who survived all kinds of adversity. We will prevail…