Articles

Resolutions on hold as we await return to old normal

Resolutions on hold as we await return to old normal   After a year when we danced with death, our new year's promises must adjust to a new mental calendar, writes Maureen Gaffney   There is something about New Year's Eve that is slightly unsettling. As the world turns on its axis, ushering out the old year and birthing the new, there is a... Read More

Posted: 27 December 2020

Family ties stronger than any pandemic

Family ties stronger than any pandemic   Government and Nphet are no match for determined grandparents who want to be with loved ones, writes Maureen Gaffney   This year has been an annus horribilis for most people, not least for those at either end of adulthood. Those in their 20s and older people have found themselves at the centre of public discourse - the... Read More

Posted: 29 November 2020

A fitting tribute to a brilliant and passionate voyager into the mind

A fitting tribute to a brilliant and passionate voyager into the mind Biography   Psychiatrist in the Chair: The Official Biography of Anthony Clare Brendan Kelly & Muiris Houston Merrion Press €22.95   In the 1980s and '90s, Dr Anthony Clare, an Irishman then working and living in London, conducted a series of unique in-depth interviews on BBC Radio 4 called In the Psychiatrist's Chair, featuring artists,... Read More

Posted: 01 November 2020

Positive outlook is key to keeping your head in this crisis

Positive outlook is key to keeping your head in this crisis   There is little in our personal or collective past to throw any light on how to live during a pandemic, writes Maureen Gaffney   We've passed the six month mark in the Covid-19 epidemic. Did you notice? Probably not. But your brain did. Monitoring the passage of time is a basic part... Read More

Posted: 04 October 2020

Seconds out for corona round two, as battle-weary nation needs to dig deep

Seconds out for corona round two, as battle-weary nation needs to dig deep   So here we are again, back at war with Covid-19, the uneasy summer truce with the virus well and truly over. But it took a while for that to sink in.    We were slightly shocked when the Government announced its medium-term, five-level strategy for dealing with the pandemic from... Read More

Posted: 20 September 2020

Prolonged uncertainty is wearing down our resilience

Prolonged uncertainty is wearing down our resilience   There's evidence that shows when you treat someone as old, they start to feel and act old, writes Maureen Gaffney    Walking in Dun Laoghaire: As the summer rolls on, there is an increasing risk of lockdown fatigue.  Nobody saw this coming. Well, maybe Bill Gates did. Talk about the butterfly effect. An imperceptible happening in the... Read More

Posted: 17 May 2020