Ask Dr. J - Chaos Around Us

Published in the April-June 2026 Edition
By Janan Broadbent, Ph. D.

We have all seen movies where a person wakes up to find themselves in a maelstrom of events happening around them with objects flying here and there, creating a state of complete chaos and no way to maintain any sense of stability or control…Human brains are not made to tolerate this kind of whirlwind because it seeks constancy, stability and consistency towards establishing meaning.

We are all experiencing this instability as our understandings of fairness, justice, responsibility and accountability are all being challenged. People we considered friends, or family, those we looked up to as leaders, are going in a completely unexpected direction. How do we survive in this, especially in a community like LGBTQ+?

We can look at history and perhaps find some comfort there, that as the Persian/Turkish saying goes: This too shall pass. As it indeed has, in accounts of our country and others. But in the moment, to cope with the turmoil, we need to maintain hope and for that, it is our connections with others of similar experience that will be supportive. So do go to rallies, join groups to write letters and have the uplifting mood of not being alone. More importantly, BE POSITIVE! It is so disturbing to hear or read defeatist comments from those who think we are doomed, or it will be another disaster down the road. Possible, but who ever won anything by giving up? Would marriage equality be real if the leaders had given up? So dear Readers, keep going… There will be a change, and we will get to a stable period because we are strong and determined.