Your Brain in the Time of COVID-19

2021 is officially here, and with the vaccine roll-out effort, the end of the pandemic is finally in sight. How will we end up remembering the bizarre year of 2020? Emily and Gaya delve into the topic of memory, how reliable our memories are (spoiler alert: it's flaky AF), and why 2020 felt so long when we were living it, but when we look back, it feels like a flash.

To celebrate Mental Health Month, we hosted an online bookclub! We read Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman. 

With a fantastic panel of mental health advocates  we discussed different aspects of mental health with relation to the book as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. We talked about loneliness,  building a community, self-esteem, trauma, children's mental health during lockdown and representation of mental health in pop culture treatment of mental health. 

October is the mental health month in Australia, and we have something planed for you.

Are you working on the front line? Are you quarantining at home, or making sure to wear a mask when you're out and about? This episode is dedicated to you. Emily and Gaya discuss why we, and many other animals, help others around us, even at our own expense. They also explore how we pick and choose who we help in a stressful situation like the pandemic.

It's been a time of loss. During the pandemic, many have lost their lives,  some have lost jobs, most have lost normalcy in their day-to-day living. But when we try to reflect on what we are feeling, how many of us think grief? In this episode Emily and Gaya discuss why we grieve and what it might look like during this pandemic. They also explore how the power of grief, amplified by social media, might be changing the world. 

Is COVID-19 making you miss your family and friends? Is it making you feel less social than usual? We're curious about this paradox of feelings too! In this episode, Emily and Gaya sit down to explore what happens in the brain when we feel lonely. They discuss the history and physiology of loneliness, and look at whether social media exacerbates our loneliness or not. They also look at a very interesting study about how kittens feel attachment to their humans. 

Is COVID-19 making you stressed? Us, too! In this episode, we explored the effect of stress on the brain. We looked at why the fear of the unknown is actually not all that bad, and discussed how stress affects decision making. We also exchanged some of the things we do in our daily lives to alleviate stress.