ReportWire

Tag: Trauma

  • What role will liability waivers play in the aftermath of the Titan sub tragedy?

    What role will liability waivers play in the aftermath of the Titan sub tragedy?

    BOSTON — Before they boarded the submersible that imploded near the Titanic wreck, the passengers who died this week were most likely asked to sign liability waivers.

    One of the waivers, signed by a person who planned to go on an OceanGate expedition, required passengers to acknowledge risks involved with the trip on the Titan vessel and any support vessels. The waiver, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, said that passengers could experience physical injury, disability, emotional trauma and death while on board the Titan.

    Passengers also waive the right to take action for “personal injury, property damage or any other loss” that they experience on the trip.

    The form also makes it clear that the vessel is experimental and “constructed of materials that have not been widely used for manned submersibles.”

    The waiver could play an outsized role as families of those who died consider their legal options. Legal experts said that what the investigation into the disaster uncovers will determine much about the case, including what caused the vessel to implode.

    WHAT IS A LIABILITY WAIVER?

    Sometimes referred to as a release form, liability waivers are typical before doing recreational activities that carry some measure of risk, like sky diving or scuba diving. By signing the document, passengers generally accept the risk and dangers related to the activity and if they are injured, absolve the company’s owner of liability.

    Matthew Shaffer, a trial lawyer with the maritime personal injury law firm Schechter, Shaffer& Harris, said the forms are commonplace before doing any kind of “ultra-hazardous recreational activity.”

    “A good release will cover any and all potential harm and you are going to spell it out in simple language as possible,” he said. “You can get killed. You can get hurt. You can get maimed and you are not going to have any recourse. You’re releasing us of any liability for anything bad that is going to happen to you as a result of you engaging in this activity.”

    HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE FORMS IN COURT?

    The legality of these documents depend on the state where they are signed, legal experts have said. Some states recognize them while others don’t. Signed waivers have been upheld in cases involving scuba divers in Florida and skiers in Colorado.

    Either way, a court weighs the document against other factors, including whether the person signing it understood the form and the risks they were taking, as well as how unusual and dangerous the activity.

    A court, Shaffer said, will also consider whether an owner or operator withheld information from the passenger, or knowingly exposed the passenger to “probable harm.” Another question is whether there was “gross negligence involved.”

    Regardless of whether or not there was a waiver, Shaffer and others have said they expect families of those who died on the submersible to sue not only OceanGate, which operated the Titan, but also the maker of the vessel and companies that provided parts.

    “The waiver is certainly going to be a significant factor stemming from this disaster and it depends a lot on the court and the facts that come out,” he said.

    WILL TITAN WAIVERS HOLD UP IN COURT?

    In the case of the Titan, a complicating factor is that the disaster happened in international waters. According to the waiver the AP reviewed, any disputes would be governed by the laws of the Bahamas, where the company, OceanGate Expeditions, Ltd, is registered.

    “If the law of the Bahamas is not favorable to the families, then I predict they will bring a lawsuit in the United States or their home countries,” said Kenneth Abraham, the Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, who is aware of the waiver’s terms. Declaring the waiver to be invalid in the U.S. could then become part of the legal argument, he said.

    But Steve Flynn, a retired Coast Guard officer and director of Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute, said possible lawsuits might not succeed given the challenges of establishing jurisdiction.

    The implosion happened “basically in a regulatory no man’s land,” Flynn said.

    “There was essentially no oversight,” Flynn said. “To some extent, they leveraged the murkiness of jurisdiction to not have oversight.”

    Another problem is whether OceanGate survives and, if so, who to sue, Flynn said. Among the five passengers dead was CEO of the company who led the expedition, Stockton Rush.

    Even if it does survive, OceanGate is unlikely to be held liable in court unless the company misrepresented the safety of the vessel, said Richard Daynard, distinguished professor at Northeastern University School of Law.

    Otherwise, the case is a prime example of assumption of risk on the part of the explorers, Daynard said.

    The company, which closed its Washington office in the aftermath of the revelations about the implosion, might also not have the ability to pay damages, Daynard said. “If they were held liable, my guess would be they would be unlikely to have the many, many millions of dollars that if I were on a jury I would award,” he said.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in New Hampshire and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine contributed to this report.

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  • What role will liability waivers play in the aftermath of the Titan sub tragedy?

    What role will liability waivers play in the aftermath of the Titan sub tragedy?

    BOSTON — Before they boarded the submersible that imploded near the Titanic wreck, the passengers who died this week were most likely asked to sign liability waivers.

    One of the waivers, signed by a person who planned to go on an OceanGate expedition, required passengers to acknowledge risks involved with the trip on the Titan vessel and any support vessels. The waiver, which was reviewed by The Associated Press, said that passengers could experience physical injury, disability, emotional trauma and death while on board the Titan.

    Passengers also waive the right to take action for “personal injury, property damage or any other loss” that they experience on the trip.

    The form also makes it clear that the vessel is experimental and “constructed of materials that have not been widely used for manned submersibles.”

    The waiver could play an outsized role as families of those who died consider their legal options. Legal experts said that what the investigation into the disaster uncovers will determine much about the case, including what caused the vessel to implode.

    WHAT IS A LIABILITY WAIVER?

    Sometimes referred to as a release form, liability waivers are typical before doing recreational activities that carry some measure of risk, like sky diving or scuba diving. By signing the document, passengers generally accept the risk and dangers related to the activity and if they are injured, absolve the company’s owner of liability.

    Matthew Shaffer, a trial lawyer with the maritime personal injury law firm Schechter, Shaffer& Harris, said the forms are commonplace before doing any kind of “ultra-hazardous recreational activity.”

    “A good release will cover any and all potential harm and you are going to spell it out in simple language as possible,” he said. “You can get killed. You can get hurt. You can get maimed and you are not going to have any recourse. You’re releasing us of any liability for anything bad that is going to happen to you as a result of you engaging in this activity.”

    HOW IMPORTANT ARE THESE FORMS IN COURT?

    The legality of these documents depend on the state where they are signed, legal experts have said. Some states recognize them while others don’t. Signed waivers have been upheld in cases involving scuba divers in Florida and skiers in Colorado.

    Either way, a court weighs the document against other factors, including whether the person signing it understood the form and the risks they were taking, as well as how unusual and dangerous the activity.

    A court, Shaffer said, will also consider whether an owner or operator withheld information from the passenger, or knowingly exposed the passenger to “probable harm.” Another question is whether there was “gross negligence involved.”

    Regardless of whether or not there was a waiver, Shaffer and others have said they expect families of those who died on the submersible to sue not only OceanGate, which operated the Titan, but also the maker of the vessel and companies that provided parts.

    “The waiver is certainly going to be a significant factor stemming from this disaster and it depends a lot on the court and the facts that come out,” he said.

    WILL TITAN WAIVERS HOLD UP IN COURT?

    In the case of the Titan, a complicating factor is that the disaster happened in international waters. According to the waiver the AP reviewed, any disputes would be governed by the laws of the Bahamas, where the company, OceanGate Expeditions, Ltd, is registered.

    “If the law of the Bahamas is not favorable to the families, then I predict they will bring a lawsuit in the United States or their home countries,” said Kenneth Abraham, the Harrison Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of Virginia School of Law, who is aware of the waiver’s terms. Declaring the waiver to be invalid in the U.S. could then become part of the legal argument, he said.

    But Steve Flynn, a retired Coast Guard officer and director of Northeastern University’s Global Resilience Institute, said possible lawsuits might not succeed given the challenges of establishing jurisdiction.

    The implosion happened “basically in a regulatory no man’s land,” Flynn said.

    “There was essentially no oversight,” Flynn said. “To some extent, they leveraged the murkiness of jurisdiction to not have oversight.”

    Another problem is whether OceanGate survives and, if so, who to sue, Flynn said. Among the five passengers dead was CEO of the company who led the expedition, Stockton Rush.

    Even if it does survive, OceanGate is unlikely to be held liable in court unless the company misrepresented the safety of the vessel, said Richard Daynard, distinguished professor at Northeastern University School of Law.

    Otherwise, the case is a prime example of assumption of risk on the part of the explorers, Daynard said.

    The company, which closed its Washington office in the aftermath of the revelations about the implosion, might also not have the ability to pay damages, Daynard said. “If they were held liable, my guess would be they would be unlikely to have the many, many millions of dollars that if I were on a jury I would award,” he said.

    ___

    Associated Press writers Holly Ramer in New Hampshire and Patrick Whittle in Portland, Maine contributed to this report.

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  • “ADHD and OCD: My Codependent Frenemies”

    “ADHD and OCD: My Codependent Frenemies”

    On the surface, ADHD and OCD are seemingly impossible bedfellows. “Messy,” “hyperactive,” and “scatterbrained” are just a few common synonyms for the former, while the latter is frequently associated with being exceedingly clean, uptight, and meticulous. (While some of these assumptions about these disorders are accurate for some people, they cannot be generalized or applied to everyone.)

    Yet, that’s precisely the combination I have. Research shows that up to 30% of people with ADHD also have OCD.

    In my reality, ADHD and OCD are codependent frenemies that sometimes help balance each other, even as they egg on one another.

    OCD and ADHD Feed Off Each Other

    My OCD diagnosis came first, and it never quite felt like the whole picture. I had trouble focusing, which is a common struggle in OCD that stems from difficulty managing compulsive symptoms. Still, it didn’t explain the day-to-day distractibility I experienced. It also didn’t explain my childhood issues with school or my impulsivity. When my psychiatrist added the ADHD diagnosis, it all suddenly made sense.

    OCD and ADHD both think they are helpful. ADHD knows you need more dopamine, but it fails to differentiate between healthy and unhealthy sources. OCD wants to relieve anxiety; it just tends to do so in maladaptive ways.

    [Get This Free Download: How Are Symptoms of OCD Different from ADHD?]

    Converse to its stereotype, ADHD also brings hyperfocus – a curious combination with OCD, as “obsessive” is right in the name. For ADHD brains, obsessions are a way to get the stimulation your brain thinks it needs. For OCD, obsessions are a catalyst for the compulsion part of the disorder. The two frequently exacerbate each other for me; this was especially true before I understood that I have both.

    The interplay might go something like this: I have an obsessive thought that creates anxiety. So I perform a compulsive action or thought to make it better. Making it better gives relief, and relief makes dopamine. Therefore, the compulsion not only relieves the anxiety temporarily but also activates my brain. Trying to avoid a compulsion, on the other hand, produces a hefty dose of adrenaline while dopamine and serotonin perform an endless dance in my brain.

    OCD exploits the poor impulse control of ADHD. It is so much easier to “give in” to a compulsion for that quick relief.

    As a kid, ADHD contributed to feelings of shame. I felt like I was lazy and could not do anything right. I felt like a failure and understood that I was not “living up to my potential.” OCD feeds on shame; its what-ifs led me farther into this spiral. What if my obsessions and intrusive thoughts meant that I was a terrible person? And what if, as a horrible person, I was truly lazy?

    [Read: The Truth About Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder]

    While “I have OCD” is accurate, it doesn’t mean that the disorder rules everything that I think about and do. For instance, I am not neat and orderly, and germs don’t bother me beyond what feels rational. Those aren’t my particular flavors of OCD. So while it’s true that OCD and ADHD have functional and physiological differences, there is room in my brain for both.

    OCD tends to resemble a game of whack-a-mole, with new worries and obsessions popping up just as others begin to feel manageable. ADHD means I can always find new ideas to turn into intrusive thoughts.

    Uncertainty fuels OCD, and ADHD produces a lot of uncertainty. For example, it’s challenging to reassure yourself that you locked the car when you have forgotten to do so many times before.

    OCD and ADHD: Too Intertwined to Tease Apart

    However, I suspect ADHD works to keep OCD in check in some ways. For example, people with comorbid ADHD and OCD are more likely to experience mainly thought-based compulsions, which I find less disruptive than any physical compulsions I experience. Sometimes, the distractability of ADHD smooths the roughest edges of my OCD.

    I also think ADHD makes OCD therapy more successful for me. Having a breakthrough, figuring something out, and relieving shame all bring the jolt of dopamine my brain craves. So, in some ways, their coexistence led me to more effective treatment.

    It would be great if neurodivergence and symptoms of mental conditions could fit nicely into individual columns. If only we could say, “this compulsion clangs around in the OCD bucket,” “that quirk lines the bottom of the ADHD basket,” and “that neurosis fits in the wider anxiety container.” But it’s rarely that easy. While OCD and ADHD are opposites in some ways, they are also too intertwined to tease apart.

    OCD and ADHD Together: Next Steps

    CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF ADDITUDE
    Since 1998, ADDitude has worked to provide ADHD education and guidance through webinars, newsletters, community engagement, and its groundbreaking magazine. To support ADDitude’s mission, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

    Nathaly Pesantez

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  • Hail hurts dozens of concertgoers, scraps Louis Tomlinson show at Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver

    Hail hurts dozens of concertgoers, scraps Louis Tomlinson show at Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver

    DENVER — A brief but fierce storm pummeled concertgoers with golf ball-sized hail as they scrambled for cover at the famed Red Rocks Amphitheater near Denver, injuring dozens and forcing the cancellation of the show’s headliner, former One Direction member Louis Tomlinson.

    As many as 90 people were treated for injuries from Wednesday night’s storm at the outdoor venue in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and seven people were taken to a hospital, West Fire Rescue said. Some were hurt by hail and others had broken bones, bruises and cuts while seeking shelter, but no injuries were life threatening, fire rescue spokesperson Ronda Scholting said.

    Hail piled up like snow in some spots in the amphitheater, which was carved out of a sedimentary rock formation. The show was initially delayed because of the weather, with fans told to take cover in their vehicles, according to tweets from the venue. The concert was subsequently canceled.

    Sprinkles of hail began falling as Nicole Criner 28, and her sister were making their way to the car to escape the intensifying storm. Before they could make it, larger hail stones began pelting them, and they grabbed a small plastic sign at the venue’s entrance to cover their heads.

    Criner said the sign kept their heads partly covered, but their hands, backs and shoulders were pelted by stinging hail. Criner’s glasses fell from her head and were swept away in a river of hail flowing nearby.

    Criner shared a video of the moment to Twitter where concertgoers can be seen running as her sister screamed in pain from the hail striking them. Others sought hiding places under trees and in bushes.

    “We were hiding under this like plastic sign, but it was super windy, and we were trying to hold it above us on our heads but then our hands were getting hit with the hail,” she said. “We weren’t completely sheltered so we got hit on our shoulders and our back.”

    Criner and her sister escaped the hail when a car drove up and the driver called them inside along with others who couldn’t find anywhere else to hide. Bleeding with a bump on her head, Criner and her sister were able to reconnect with their father and his girlfriend they had lost in the chaos.

    A day later, she said, she was still sore and bruised.

    “I still have an egg bump on my head,” she said Thursday, when another round of thunderstorms dropped large hail in parts of the Denver area.

    Beth Nabi, 44, had flown in from Dublin, Ireland, to watch one of her favorite musicians perform at the Colorado venue. At around 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, she said, she could see lightning and thunder approaching in the distance.

    As the weather deteriorated, concertgoers were encouraged to seek shelter.

    But not wanting to give up hope on seeing Tomlinson, Nabi stuck around. She said the hail started falling while she was in a bathroom and that the bathroom quickly filled up with other concertgoers trying to escape the hailstorm.

    “I came out of the bathroom stall to a bathroom filled with as many people who could cram in there, all seeking shelter,” she said.

    The storm lasted about 10 minutes before she could leave the bathroom and see all the hail covering the ground.

    “The hailstorm was just crazy. It was apocalyptic. It was fast,” she said.

    To cap things off, she returned to her rental car to find its windshield cracked in several places and the hood dented. Nabi said she is anxiously waiting to hear on when the concert will be rescheduled.

    “I am gutted it didn’t go on,” she said. “’I’m hoping we get some news on when it can be rescheduled, and I hope I can make it because I was so looking forward for the experience at that venue.”

    Tomlinson tweeted that he was “devastated” about the cancellation and promised to return.

    “Even though we didn’t play the show I felt all of your passion! Sending you all love!” he wrote.

    Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater is located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) west of Denver.

    ____

    Dupuy reported from New York.

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  • The Real Reason ADHD Medication Supply Is Lagging Demand

    The Real Reason ADHD Medication Supply Is Lagging Demand

    June 13, 2023

    Whoever says the Adderall shortage is over is living on a different planet. I have dozens of patients who rely on Adderall and who panic every month. Whenever it’s time to refill their prescriptions, the drama begins: Where can I find the medication I need?

    This uncertainty is causing extreme hardship for many of my patients. While stimulant medication is not exactly like insulin (you won’t likely die without it), it is like eyeglasses. Without your glasses, your execution of everything suffers. You go about your day making mistakes, bumping into things, risking getting fired because suddenly you’re incompetent. I wish the Adderall shortage were over, but up here in the Boston area at least, it is as bad as it’s ever been.

    I can’t figure out why. It’s not as if Adderall is like truffles; we don’t need special pigs to root it out from the ground. Production is not limited by the availability of its components. It’s easily synthesized. So why is there a limit on how much stimulant medication can be produced and marketed? Why are my patients suffering unnecessarily?

    [Read: Adderall Shortage Persists as Opioid Settlement Triggers Pharmacy Constraints]

    Why Are We Punishing ADHD Patients?

    If limiting the production of Adderall is part of an effort to reduce or prevent the reselling or other misuse of the drug, that simply makes no sense. It’s just plain stupid. It’s like trying to reduce car theft by limiting the manufacture of cars.

    It’s difficult for me not to believe this is a misguided attempt to avoid another oxycontin debacle. But limiting the manufacture of Adderall to prevent Adderall abuse only succeeds in punishing the patients who really need the drug.

    To blame the Adderall shortage, as the FDA commissioner recently did, on improper or aggressive diagnosis of ADHD and improper or aggressive prescription of stimulant medication is to penalize the many for the mistakes of a few. Unless a doctor is intentionally over-diagnosing to make a profit — which does happen, unfortunately, but not nearly often enough to create a shortage of Adderall — then we ought to have enough of a supply to meet the needs of all people diagnosed with ADHD.

    [Download: ADHD Medications – Comparison Chart of Stimulants & Nonstimulants]

    There is a shortage of Adderall because, for some reason, the manufacturing quotas set by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) are not keeping up with demand. It’s good news that the demand is high because that means more people are getting diagnosed. Not too long ago, it was hard to find a doctor who knew enough to diagnose and treat ADHD.

    Now that we’re diagnosing and treating more people with ADHD, especially adults, we ought to be able to prescribe for them the medications they need to live more productive, fulfilled lives.

    ADHD Medication Shortage: Next Steps

    CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF ADDITUDE
    Since 1998, ADDitude has worked to provide ADHD education and guidance through webinars, newsletters, community engagement, and its groundbreaking magazine. To support ADDitude’s mission, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

    Nicole Kear

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  • “I’m Still Recovering from ‘Hyperfocus Burnout.’ It’s Been Six Years.”

    “I’m Still Recovering from ‘Hyperfocus Burnout.’ It’s Been Six Years.”

    In my first full-time job after finishing my master’s degree, I was put in charge a long-running project that was already years behind schedule. With strict, unrealistic timelines and insufficient resources, the project was mine to save.

    I’ve always been a high achiever, so I dove right in. Despite the pressure and all the givens, I found the work highly engaging and rewarding – the perfect combination for hyperfocus.

    Intense weeks turned into months. The longer I hyperfocused on the project and the more I accomplished, the more important my work became to me. It was all or nothing.

    I kept up the pace for a year and a half. Then, with almost no warning, I broke.

    I know what you’re thinking; it’s a classic case of burnout, right? Not exactly. You see, that burnout episode happened six years ago — and I’m still recovering from it.

    Burnout by Another Name

    Years after that episode, with a new job and an objectively manageable workload, I am still only able to work about 20 hours a week. I’m also highly sensitive to day-to-day work stress; some hard days can trigger depressive episodes and significant fatigue.

    [Read: Rising from the Burnout — an ADHD Recovery Kit]

    I finally sought help recently, and I found a therapist who specializes in ADHD. I told her my story and, I read what I could on burnout between our sessions to try to make sense of what I went through (and the effects I’m still experiencing). The more I learned, and the more I explored my burnout during therapy, the more I realized that traditional, commonly understood concepts of burnout failed to capture my experience.

    What I went through, I realized, was a form of burnout that I believe affects many of us with ADHD: I call it “hyperfocus burnout.”

    Digging Deeper on Hyperfocus Burnout

    The World Health Organization (WHO) describes burnout as the result of chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed. Here’s how the dimensions of burnout match up to my burnout experience:

    • feelings of energy depletion or exhaustion (Yep)
    • increased mental distance from one’s job, or feelings of negativism or cynicism related to one’s job (Not really)
    • a sense of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment (Nope)

    As stressful and demanding as leading that project was, I kept going back every day, eager to see it through. I wasn’t mentally distant from my stressor — I was engaged with it. It was all I thought about, day and night. I didn’t feel a sense of ineffectiveness or a lack of accomplishment on the job. It was just the opposite; my job was its own reward, and my productivity and effectiveness increased over time, fueling a positive feedback loop.

    [Read: Hyperfocus — a Blessing and a Curse]

    In my mind, there was nothing to escape or recover from. Sure, I wanted things to calm down, but burnout never showed up on my radar (though others in my life could see it). That’s why it’s typical approaches — like taking breaks, reframing, and increasing rewards – wouldn’t have worked on me.

    A dimension of my experience that I didn’t see reflected in my research was my intense and increasing fear of falling short on my job. As time went on, my perceived consequences for failure worsened and became unrealistic. By the end, what started as “it will be a bad look” turned into the existential “this project could end my career and leave my wife and I destitute.” I won’t deny that these irrational fears also kept me hyperfocused on my work.

    Day to day, when I wasn’t working, I just felt exhausted. I’d have trouble focusing, I was forgetful, and I found it almost impossible to muster the energy required to start day-to-day tasks like cooking and cleaning. All other aspects of my life, including things I truly enjoyed, started to fade away.  Once I started working again, that exhaustion faded away, or at least I didn’t notice it.

    When I did break, it was sudden — as if the branch that I had been perched on all this time had suddenly snapped, leaving me broken on the ground. From one day to the next, I could barely get out of bed. My mind was foggy, my memory was non-existent, and I couldn’t make coherent sentences, let alone work. That extreme state lasted for the next five weeks. I then spent the next five years clawing my way back, only to still be half of my former self; I worked part time and struggled to keep up with the demands of life. The effects of traditional burnout, meanwhile, apparently resolve after a few months.

    Hyperfocus Burnout vs. Traditional Burnout

    With the help of my therapist, here’s where I landed: Traditional burnout is triggered by a mismatch between time, demands, resources, and rewards. Symptoms occur on a spectrum and increase over time as pressure and lack of reward increase.

    Hyperfocus burnout, on the other hand, is triggered only by an overabundance of pressure or demands, particularly on a high-focus activity.

    In traditional burnout, there are efforts to detach and turn away from an unsustainable situation. In hyperfocus burnout, we engage and turn into the unsustainable situation. We push through until the situation ends or we break.

    My therapist, who has seen her fair share of clients with ADHD who have burned out like I have, says those who reach their hyperfocus breaking point push themselves past their limits due to a strong sense of responsibility and a failure to recognize the mental and physiological strain that is accumulating to an inevitable peak.

    Hyperfocus, ultimately, is just another problem with attentional shifting that characterizes ADHD. It’s why many of us will forget to eat or go the bathroom when absorbed in a task. When unchecked, hyperfocus can cause us to sacrifice many life functions in the pursuit of a particularly salient goal.

    Traditional burnout, it seems, is a protective mechanism that helps a person recognize when they’re reaching their limit and are close to breaking. That mechanism failed, in my case, because of my ADHD and attention regulation challenges.

    Recovering from Hyperfocus Burnout

    There is another element to my story: Though I was diagnosed with ADHD as a child, I had gone without treatment for most of my adult life, as I had enough strategies to keep the “traditional” inattentive symptoms at bay. My therapist strongly encouraged me to start taking ADHD medication, and I’m glad she did. Medication has reduced my emotional ADHD symptoms (symptoms I hadn’t even been aware were part of ADHD). My existential fear of failure disappeared almost overnight. Stimulant medication reduced my anxiety and increased my resilience to stress; it was much more effective than the SSRI I had previously been prescribed.

    All in all, starting medication allowed me to increase my working hours longer than I have in years, without sacrificing the rest of my life. Now I’m also better able to recognize instances of unhelpful hyperfocus, and I’m much more likely to disengage and use coping strategies — something I struggled to do before. Still, medication is not a fail-safe; I have to be careful about slipping back into old patterns.

    I wish I knew then what I know about extreme hyperfocus. I wish I knew that it could turn into a positive feedback cycle that gets harder to escape the longer you’re in it. I wish I knew that relentless hyperfocus would break me and result in a very long and painful recovery. Maybe if I had this information, I would have listened to my wife and friends; maybe I could have helped my manager realize that I was in serious trouble, even though I was still very effective at my job and not showing the traditional (dare I say, neurotypical) signs of burnout. Maybe I could have prevented my hyperfocus burnout.

    Extreme Burnout and ADHD Hyperfocus: Next Steps

    This piece was a joint effort between Matt and his psychologist, Dr. Petra Hoggarth. Based in Christchurch, New Zealand, Dr. Hoggarth specializes in adult ADHD assessment and therapy.

    CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF ADDITUDE
    Since 1998, ADDitude has worked to provide ADHD education and guidance through webinars, newsletters, community engagement, and its groundbreaking magazine. To support ADDitude’s mission, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

    Nathaly Pesantez

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  • Jacob deGrom, oft-injured Rangers ace, to have season-ending Tommy John surgery

    Jacob deGrom, oft-injured Rangers ace, to have season-ending Tommy John surgery

    ARLINGTON, Texas — Texas ace Jacob deGrom will have season-ending Tommy John surgery, cutting short his first season after the oft-injured right-hander signed a $185 million, five-year contract with the AL West-leading Rangers.

    General manager Chris Young said Tuesday the decision on surgery came after an MRI on deGrom’s ailing right elbow.

    “We’ve got a special group here and to not be able to be out there and help them win, that stinks,” deGrom said, with tears in his eyes and pausing several times. “Wanting to be out there and helping the team, it’s a disappointment.”

    The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner hadn’t pitched since April 28, when he exited early against the the New York Yankees because of injury concerns for the second time in a span of three starts. The announcement of surgery came a day after deGrom was transferred to the 60-day injured list.

    Young said the latest MRI showed more inflammation and significant structural damage in the ligament that wasn’t there on the scan after deGrom exited the game against the Yankees. The surgery will be sometime next week.

    “The results of that MRI show that we we have not made progress. And in fact, we’ve identified some damage to the ligaments,” Young said. “It’s obviously a tough blow for Jacob, for certainly the Rangers. But we do feel this is what is right for Jacob in his career. We’re confident he’ll make a full recovery.”

    Young and deGrom, who turns 35 later this month, said the goal is for the right-hander to be back near the end of next season. Both said they were glad to have clarity with what was wrong with the elbow.

    Texas won all six games started by deGrom (2-0), but the right-hander has pitched only 30 1/3 innings. He has a 2.67 ERA with 45 strikeouts and four walks. He threw 3 2/3 scoreless innings against the Yankees in his last start before leaving that game because of discomfort in his arm.

    Before going home to Florida over the weekend for the birth of his third child, deGrom threw his fifth bullpen session last Wednesday in Detroit.

    “I’d have days where I’d feel really good, days where I didn’t feel great. So I was kind of riding a roller coaster there for a little bit,” deGrom said. “They said originally there, we just saw some inflammation. … Getting an MRI right after you pitch, I feel like anybody would have inflammation. So, you know, I was hoping that that would get out of there and I would be fine. But it just didn’t work out that way.”

    The Rangers signed deGrom in free agency after he had played his first nine big league seasons with the Mets. He was limited by injuries to 156 1/3 innings over 26 starts his last two years in New York.

    DeGrom had a career-low 1.08 ERA over 92 innings during the 2021 season before missing the final three months with right forearm tightness and a sprained elbow.

    The four-time All-Star didn’t make his first big-league start last year until Aug. 2 after being shut down late in spring training because of a stress reaction in his right scapula.

    ___

    AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • 2 horses die from injuries at Churchill Downs, bringing total to 12 at home of Kentucky Derby

    2 horses die from injuries at Churchill Downs, bringing total to 12 at home of Kentucky Derby

    LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two horses have died the past two days following injuries at Churchill Downs, the 11th and 12th fatalities over the past month at the home of the Kentucky Derby.

    Mare Kimberley Dream was euthanized after sustaining a distal sesamodean ligament rupture to her front leg during Saturday’s first race. Lost in Limbo was euthanized following a similar injury just before the finish line in Friday’s seventh race.

    The track stated in a release that both injuries were “inoperable and unrecoverable.”

    As team members mourn the loss of the animals, the statement added, the track is working to determine cause and appropriate investments to minimize risk to the sport and its property.

    “We do not accept this as suitable or tolerable and share the frustrations of the public, and in some cases, the questions to which we do not yet have answers,” the statement added. “We have been rigorously working since the opening of the meet to understand what has led to this spike and have yet to find a conclusive discernable pattern as we await the findings of ongoing investigations into those injuries and fatalities.”

    Also, a Kentucky steward’s repor t from May 13 lists the previously unreported death of Bosque Redondo after finishing 10th in the seventh race. The report did not state the injury, but the colt was transported to Lexington for observation and eventually put down after a poor prognosis for recovery.

    Churchill Downs’ statement said it commissioned surface expert Mick Peterson to perform additional tests on the track and that the data did not raise concerns. The data is consistent with prior measurements from Churchill Downs or other tracks, the statement added.

    An epidemiological study with the Jockey Club is reviewing each horse to determine undetected patterns not previously identified, the statement added.

    “We are troubled by this recent string of fatalities,” the statement said. “It is extremely inconsistent with the outcomes we have experienced over the years, with the reputation we have developed over the decades and with the expectations we set for ourselves and owe our fans. We are committed to doing this important work and updating the public with our developments.”

    Kimberley Dream and Lost in Limbo were both 7-year-old Kentucky breds with at least 35 starts each.

    Trained by Freddie Winston, Kimberley Dream was making her 61st start in the 1 1/16th mile claiming race. Jockey Jesus Castanon pulled her up passing the 3/16th pole and she was vanned off, Equibase race chart notes stated.

    Lost in Limbo, a gelding trained by Michael Lauer, collapsed inside the final 1/16th and threw jockey Ricardo Santana Jr., the race chart noted. He was vanned away.

    The notes added that Lost in Limbo dropped his rider before the six-furlong claiming race and ran loose before being gathered by an outrider. He was remounted without incident and endured contact from horses on both sides at the start from the No. 4 post, the chart noted.

    Kimberley Dream was winless in four starts this year. She had seven wins, eight seconds and six thirds with $174,372 in earnings. Lost in Limbo had two thirds in four starts this year and five career, along with five wins and three seconds. He earned $225,996 lifetime.

    Seven horses died at Churchill Downs from training or racing injuries in the week leading up to the 149th Kentucky Derby on May 6, starting with qualifier Wild On Ice on April 27. Two were euthanized following injuries on the Derby undercard, and two others died on May 14 and May 20.

    ___

    AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Parents described as ‘monsters’ in horrific abuse that killed 10-month-old in England

    Parents described as ‘monsters’ in horrific abuse that killed 10-month-old in England

    LONDON — An English couple who fought to get their baby son back from child services and then abused him so severely the 10-month-old was dead just over a month later were sentenced to life in prison for murder Friday in what a judge described as a case of “unimaginable cruelty.”

    Stephen Boden, 30, and Shannon Marsden, 22, showed no emotion as family members wept and a gasp sounded in the gallery when the sentence was handed down in Derby Crown Court.

    Finley Boden, who the judge said had been a lovely, happy, smiley baby, died on Christmas day 2020.

    The final weeks of his life were hell, based on his catalog of injuries: 57 bone fractures, 71 bruises, and burns on his hand, including one probably caused by a cigarette lighter.

    “They acted together to inflict all his injuries and then hide him away and allow him to die in such an awful way,” a relative wrote in a statement read by prosecutor Mary Prior. “I can only describe you both as monsters for what you have done.”

    The boy had been taken from the marijuana-smoking couple soon after he was born in February 2020 because social workers said he faced “significant harm” in their squalid Chesterfield home and Boden had a domestic violence conviction, according to court records.

    As part of their plea to a family court to return the boy, Boden described the tot as “perfect” and Marsden said he was a “cuddly, chunky munchkin.”

    The court decided to allow him to be returned on a part-time basis and, eventually, full-time. There had been a disagreement between the local social work authority that wanted a slower transition and the guardian, who wanted the parents to get full custody sooner.

    The couple wanted the boy to be returned promptly and Boden assured the court in a statement they had “worked really hard to make changes.”

    Boden’s lawyer, Simon Kealey, said there was no “sadistic motivation” for the murder.

    “This is not a case in which the parents sought the return of Finley in order to carry out his killing,” Kealey said. “The underlying motivation was to reunite his family.”

    But once home, the prosecutor said the boy was subjected to “vicious and repeated assaults” that ultimately led to his “savage and prolonged” murder. His fractures led to infections, including pneumonia and sepsis, that proved fatal.

    Unlike the photos shown to the court of a tidy house when the couple were seeking custody, jurors at the trial in April were shown images of home full of clutter, marijuana paraphernalia and spoiled baby formula when Finley died. The boy’s clothes were covered in his saliva and feces.

    Even as they could see he was suffering, his parents did nothing to help. The two even kept social workers at bay by saying they thought he had COVID-19, though they knew that wasn’t true.

    Justice Amanda Tipples called them “persuasive and accomplished liars.”

    “You both knew that Finley was very seriously ill and dying,” Tipples said. “Yet you deliberately failed to seek any medical help for him and you made sure that he was not seen by anyone that could have rescued him and taken him away from your care.”

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  • “The Personal Mottos That Transformed My ADHD Life”

    “The Personal Mottos That Transformed My ADHD Life”

    I never thought I’d have a life-changing revelation in the cereal aisle at Walmart, but that’s exactly what happened. As I tried to decide which breakfast option to buy, my thoughts went something like this:

    I don’t know what to get.

    I really want Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

    But I can’t get that. I should get the Special K.

    Shoulds and musts are instilled in us from the time we are very little. Some of these rules are valuable. Others are more arbitrary, but they still end up governing our lives as rules. In this case, I had made a rule dictating which cereals I can and can’t buy.

    That’s when it hit me.

    Wait, there are no rules! I can buy what I want. I can do what I want!

    ADHD Motto #1: There Are No Rules

    My Walmart moment may not seem like a big deal, but it was an epiphany to me. You see, growing up, my parents taught me very specific ways of doing just about everything. From folding towels to emptying the dishwasher, everything had to be completed a certain way, which was both helpful and harmful. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult that I understood why I struggled so much to keep up with my everyone else’s rules and norms.

    [Read: My 25 Rules for Life — a Practical Cure for ADHD Shame and Stagnation]

    Living — or trying to live — by rules set by neurotypical brains is one of the most frustrating aspects of living with ADHD. Worse than that, we don’t always recognize what’s happening — that we’re beating ourselves up for stumbling over rules that don’t work for our neurodivergent brains.

    After that Walmart moment, and with an understanding of how my brain works, I constantly remind myself that there are no rules. There is no “right” way to do a thing. There’s only the way that works for me.

    How many trash cans should I have in my office? There are no rules — as many as I need. Do I have to fold my clothes before putting them away? No. There are no rules.

    ADHD Motto #2: Anything Worth Doing is Worth Doing Poorly

    Hold on, perfectionists — stay with me here.

    My second motto came from a post I saw on social media, which reads in part: “Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly… because doing it poorly is better than not doing it.”

    [Read: Intention Deficit Disorder — Why ADHD Minds Struggle to Meet Goals with Action]

    I don’t have to tell you that getting things started is immensely difficult for ADHD brains. There’s overwhelm, for one, and then there’s fear of failure, all of which can keep us at a standstill, perpetuating the cycle of exhaustion we tend to create.

    But this motto gave me permission to do what I can and forget about the big finish line. To me, this motto helped me see that getting 10% of a task done is better than getting none of it done.

    Maybe I absolutely cannot bring myself to do all the dishes — but I can do the glasses, only. Laundry is exhausting — but I can focus on folding just my shorts. No, I cannot write a 40-page paper right now, but I can jot down some ideas. By giving myself permission to do a little at a time, I actually reduced my stress and increased my productivity.

    Adopting the Two Mottos for Your Life

    These mottos have helped me practice self-compassion and affirm my own neurodiversity.

    Embracing the fact there are no rules, and that anything worth doing is worth doing poorly, helped me adapt and learn to accept things as they happen, not as someone else says they should.

    But in my own work helping adults with ADHD, I hear a few concerns when I share these mottos with my clients. Mostly, my clients worry that they’ll spin out of control if they become too self-compassionate — that being hard on themselves is the only thing keeping their lives in check. I’ve been there, and I know that this black-and-white form of thinking keeps us trapped.

    Start with these four steps to work toward living with more self-compassion. Perhaps you’ll use these mottos or develop a few of your own:

    1. Watch for patterns. Which tasks do you frequently struggle to get done? Where do you find the most resistance and hot spots in your life?
    2. Troubleshoot with your brain in mind. Time to get creative. Do you struggle to put away your clothes? I’ve seen some people replace their hangers with S-hooks, or even install a pegboard in their Does trash pile up on your desk? Move your trash can within arm’s reach.
    3. Break down daunting tasks. Think smaller steps and remember my second motto. If breaking down a big task is difficult in itself, use a tool like Magic ToDo – GoblinTools to break it down for you. (Seriously, it’s fantastic.)
    4. Remember, there’s always tomorrow. There will be days when we can’t get everything (or anything) done. Those are the days when we need to talk to ourselves as we would to our best friend. We didn’t get everything done that we wanted to, and that’s OK — we can try again

    Personal Mottos for ADHD: Next Steps

    SUPPORT ADDITUDE
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    Nathaly Pesantez

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  • Captivating New Audiobook Helps Trauma and Cult Survivors Find Hope Through Humor

    Captivating New Audiobook Helps Trauma and Cult Survivors Find Hope Through Humor


    LOS ANGELES, May 22, 2023 (Newswire.com)
    –
    Crewest Studio, an independent publisher with a focus on the arts, and Katie Love, critically-acclaimed author and comedian, today announced the launch of Love’s new audiobook, “Two Tickets to Paradise – From Cult To Comedy.” This unique and powerful memoir is a testament to the power of humor as a healing force for trauma and cult survivors. The audiobook, a heartfelt exploration of Love’s life journey from childhood trauma to redemption through humor, is now available on Audible and Amazon via https://fromculttocomedy.com.

    With an engaging narrative style, “Two Tickets to Paradise” shares the tale of nine-year-old Katie discovering her mother’s suicide, only to be taken in by her older sister and shown a path of hope by entering a controlling religious group. Katie’s initial pursuit of perfection and entrance into “Paradise” unfolds with both heartbreak and humor, perfectly capturing the dichotomy of the human experience. As her devoutness to the religion evolves into a nightmare, she ultimately finds a way to escape, allowing humor and self-discovery to guide her toward healing.

    Striving to foster a sense of connection, empathy, and healing among listeners, this powerful memoir is certain to resonate with survivors of trauma and control-based groups. The honest account and universal themes ensure that the audiobook will appeal to a broad spectrum of audiences, transcending any particular religious or cultural background.

    Kirkus Reviews commends Love’s talent as a storyteller, stating, “a bighearted personal story about the creation of an artist,” and recognizes her ability to evoke emotions and authenticity in her compelling memoir. The engaging narration invites the reader into Love’s world, delivering a story that is poignant, hilarious, and ultimately, inspiring.

    Katie Love, herself a talented writer, comedian, writing coach, and producer, takes the reader on the journey from the trials of her troubled past to her emergence as an accomplished humorist. Through her unflinching examination of her childhood experiences, she discovers the transformative power of laughter and forges a connection with those who have walked a similar path.

    The audiobook adds a new dimension to the already powerful written word, allowing listeners to hear Love’s compelling story directly from her own voice. This immersive experience promotes an even deeper connection, as Katie narrates the events that shaped her life and her journey towards healing.

    The launch of the “Two Tickets to Paradise – From Cult To Comedy” audiobook, released by Crewest Studio, provides a beacon of hope and encouragement to those who have endured trauma or control by emphasizing the power of humor, personal growth and resilience, and the possibility of positive change. It is certain to leave a lasting impact on listeners from all walks of life.

    Just in time for summer reading, “Two Tickets to Paradise – From Cult To Comedy” is also available in paperback and Kindle formats, offering readers multiple ways to enjoy Katie Love’s inspiring story. To find the most convenient option and enjoy this unforgettable memoir, visit https://fromculttocomedy.com.

    About Crewest Studio

    Crewest Studio is a Los Angeles-based production company specializing in arts and culture programming across film, television, podcasting, publishing and events. 

    Source: Crewest Studio LLC

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  • What should I do on the death anniversary? More are asking as US mass killings rise

    What should I do on the death anniversary? More are asking as US mass killings rise

    ST. PAUL, Minn. — On a September day that he knew would be hard, 51-year-old Damone Presley marked the occasion with barbecue and balloons.

    He was commemorating the one-year anniversary of the day in 2021 that his daughter and her three friends were fatally shot in Minnesota by a man who left their bodies in an abandoned SUV in a Wisconsin cornfield. Presley gathered 50 friends to celebrate the life of his daughter, Nitosha Flug-Presley, who was 30 when she died. He went big on the anniversary because he felt sure that’s what his daughter would have wanted.

    “She would always do stuff big,” Presley told The Associated Press.

    There have been 553 mass killings in the United States since 2006, and at least 2,880 people have died, according to a database maintained by The Associated Press and USA Today in partnership with Northeastern University. Those include killings where four or more died, not including the assailant, within a 24-hour period. So far in 2023, the nation has witnessed the highest number on record of mass killings and deaths to this point in a single year.

    As the number of people who die in mass killings in the U.S. continues to rise, thousands more are left to handle the trauma of losing someone they love to a senseless act of violence. They struggle with a special kind of grief, haunted both by the loss and by how it happened.

    One of the hardest days they confront each year is the anniversary of the killing.

    This Wednesday, families in Uvalde, Texas, will have to face that one-year anniversary — transporting them back to the day when a gunman entered Robb Elementary School and fatally shot 19 children and two teachers as they gathered to celebrate the end of the school year. And last week, families of 10 people in Buffalo, New York, crossed the one-year mark from the day a white supremacist shot and killed them in a supermarket.

    People cope with these anniversaries in different ways. Some throw a party to get through the pain. Others prefer to be completely alone. Many fall somewhere in the middle, adopting little rituals to help get them through the day.

    But they all grapple with the same question, sometimes after many years have passed:

    What do I do with myself on the date that changed everything?

    ___

    On the same day Presley gathered with friends and family at his home, Angela Sturm — whose children, Jasmine Sturm and Matthew Pettus, were killed in the same attack — chose to spend the day alone.

    “I turn down invites to ‘celebrate’ because it’s not a celebration to me,” she said.

    Instead, she honors her children privately by looking at their photos and remembering how their life together used to be. She writes, cries and practices self-care by reading a good book or taking a hot bath. She hopes people will understand that she wants to be alone, and that they shouldn’t worry or be upset if she turns down invitations or doesn’t respond to texts.

    Everyone deals with grief differently, said Jeffrey Shahidullah, a pediatric psychologist at UT-Austin Dell Children’s Medical Center.

    Shahidullah was part of a team that stayed in Uvalde for months after the shooting to operate a crisis walk-in clinic for first responders, community members, family and friends of victims.

    In the short and long term, mass shootings can traumatize entire communities, Shahidullah said. That can lead people — even those who didn’t know the victims personally — to avoid situations that remind them of the event, feel constantly unsafe and experience intrusive flashbacks to when they first heard about the killing.

    “A lot of these symptoms could be exacerbated or worsened around the time of these anniversaries,” Shahidullah said. “Over time, those symptoms do tend to subside. But everyone has their own timeline.”

    ___

    By cruel coincidence, the first anniversary of the Buffalo supermarket shooting fell on Mother’s Day. That made things especially hard for Wayne Jones, whose mother, Celestine Chaney, was among the 10 people killed by a white supremacist that day.

    Jones said some friends came over on the anniversary, and they talked about other things.

    “5/14 is every day to me still,” he said. “I watched my mother get killed on video.”

    The video and a photo of the shooter — standing with the gun he used, a vulgar racial slur scrawled on its barrel — are “ingrained in my brain,” he said.

    Tirzah Patterson and her 13-year-old son, Jaques “Jake” Patterson — who lost his father, church deacon Heyward Patterson, in the supermarket shooting — left town altogether for the anniversary. They have not set foot in Tops Friendly Market since it reopened last summer and did not attend the memorial events in Buffalo for her ex-husband and the others who were killed.

    “We don’t want to go through that again,” Tirzah Patterson said before the weekend. “We’re going to be gone.”

    They spent Mother’s Day weekend in Detroit and attended a church service there.

    ___

    While some are just crossing the one-year mark, others have been dealing with these anniversaries for years.

    Topaz Cooks marked the 10-year anniversary of her father’s death last September. She was a month shy of her 21st birthday in 2012 when her dad and several others were shot and killed at work by a man who was fired from the company in Minneapolis.

    “I still cannot believe that happened to my family,” she said.

    On the anniversaries, she likes to do things her dad, Rami Cooks, enjoyed. Last year, she went on a hike and ate dessert — because her dad loved rugelach, birds and wind. She loves that her friends send her photos of their dessert that day each year with the caption: “For your dad!”

    She also has a journal she writes in once a year on that day, filling her dad in on the highlights, challenges and thoughts from the year that she wishes she could share with him.

    Seven years after the killing, Topaz Cooks said she experienced PTSD while working as a theater stage manager. She was surprised because she didn’t expect it to hit so late. The production’s plot may have triggered it — the play was about a woman avenging her father’s death.

    She said she would get exhausted at the end of rehearsals, lie down on the floor of her office and feel like she couldn’t get up. At times, she felt like her skin was vibrating or that she was outside of her own body. It took months of therapy to feel like she was back in control.

    Talking about the loss isn’t for everybody, but Cooks said it’s important to her.

    “I wish that people talked about it more and normalized it,” she said. “Grief is just so lonely.”

    ___

    A hint of fall hung in the air on Sept. 12, the day Presley threw a party to mark the day his daughter and her three friends were killed and left abandoned. He said he wanted to think about who his daughter was rather than how she died.

    She loved to throw exciting and glamorous birthday parties for her kids, friends and family.

    Presley placed a life-size cardboard cut-out of his daughter smiling in a pink outfit by the door. Guests wore T-shirts with photos of her and phrases like “Never Forgotten” and “Daddy’s #1 Angel.” At Presley’s request, guests gave speeches about the funniest things they remembered his daughter doing.

    Late in the afternoon, they gathered around the front steps of his home, clutching red, yellow, pink and white balloons, some embossed with words like “Forever in Our Hearts.”

    Wide-eyed children, following the lead of the adults around them, listened quietly as a woman sang the gospel song “Take Me to the King.” Presley recited a poem his father had written years before, words Presley’s daughter had adored.

    “I meet the sunrise daily on the way to get mine,” he recited. “I don’t play myself ’cause I don’t got time.”

    When he finished the poem, Presley gave the signal to release the balloons. They soared straight up, gently rising above the rooftops and disappearing into a clear blue sky.

    ___

    Aaron Morrison and Carolyn Thompson contributed from Buffalo, N.Y.

    Trisha Ahmed is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues. Follow Trisha Ahmed on Twitter: @TrishaAhmed15

    ___

    Ahmed’s father, Avijit Roy, was killed on Feb. 26, 2015, by religious militants in Bangladesh. Each year on that date, she throws a party — because he loved celebrations — and surrounds herself with people she loves. This February, they played games and gave a toast in his honor.

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  • Horse trained by Bob Baffert euthanized on track after racing injury on Preakness undercard

    Horse trained by Bob Baffert euthanized on track after racing injury on Preakness undercard

    BALTIMORE — A horse trained by Bob Baffert was euthanized on the track after going down with injury and unseating his jockey during a race on the Preakness undercard on Saturday.

    Hours before the second leg of the Triple Crown, favorite Havnameltdown buckled forward and threw jockey Luis Saez off his back during the sixth race and continued running around the final turn in some distress. The 3-year-old colt was looked at by veterinary staff before being euthanized.

    Saez was conscious and taken to a hospital for evaluation, complaining of leg pain, the track announced. He was attended to by medical personnel on the track for several minutes before being put on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

    The fatality comes on another major race day, in the aftermath of the Kentucky Derby being overshadowed by the deaths of seven horses at Churchill Downs over a span of 10 days.

    Havnameltdown, the favorite at 4-5 and breaking from the inside No. 1 post, was bumped out of the gate by No. 2 Ryvit and broke a step slow.

    Fans in the crowd at Pimlico Race Course gasped when the horse stumbled before the final turn and tossed Saez. In an incongruous scene, at the same time Saez and Havnameltdown were being looked at, 2Pac’s “California Love” continued blaring from infield speakers set up right near where it happened.

    Meanwhile, on Pimlico’s homestretch, the horse was brought under control by track staff, then led behind some black barriers.

    Baffert has horses running on Preakness weekend for the first time in two years after returning from a suspension stemming from 2021 Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit’s failed drug test. He was not able to enter horses in the Derby either of the past two years as part of a decision by Churchill Downs. He could not have any in the 2022 Preakness or Belmont because of a 90-day ban in Kentucky respected by Maryland and New York.

    One of his horses, Arabian Lion, won an earlier race. Baffert is also set to saddle National Treasure in the Preakness.

    Saez, a Panamanian who turned 31 on Friday, originally was supposed to ride top contender First Mission in the Preakness. But that horse was scratched on the advice of veterinarians because of an issue with his left hind ankle.

    At the 2019 Kentucky Derby, Saez rode Maximum Security across the line first, but stewards revoked the victory and dropped the colt to 17th for impeding the paths of several horses. Saez then was suspended, accused of causing the interference.

    Earlier this year, he was aboard Kentucky Derby champion Mage for a runner-up finish at the Florida Derby. At Churchill Downs two weeks ago, Saez’s horse, Tapit Trice, came in seventh in the Derby.

    ___

    AP sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

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  • Immigration experts on Title 42, analysis of immigration policies, and other migrant news in the Immigration Channel

    Immigration experts on Title 42, analysis of immigration policies, and other migrant news in the Immigration Channel

    Title 42, the United States pandemic rule that had been used to immediately deport hundreds of thousands of migrants who crossed the border illegally over the last three years, has expired. Those migrants will have the opportunity to apply for asylum. President Biden’s new rules to replace Title 42 are facing legal challenges. The US Homeland Security Department announced a rule to make it extremely difficult for anyone who travels through another country, like Mexico, to qualify for asylum. Border crossings have already risen sharply, as many migrants attempted to cross before the measure expired on Thursday night. Some have said they worry about tighter controls and uncertainty ahead. Immigration is once again a major focus of the media as we examine the humanitarian, political, and public health issues migrants must face. 

    Below are some of the latest headlines in the Immigration channel on Newswise.

    Expert Commentary

    Experts Available on Ending of Title 42

    George Washington University Experts on End of Title 42

    ‘No one wins when immigrants cannot readily access healthcare’

    URI professor discusses worsening child labor in the United States

    Biden ‘between a rock and a hard place’ on immigration

    University of Notre Dame Expert Available to Comment on House Bill Regarding Immigration Legislation, Border Safety and Security Act

    American University Experts Available to Discuss President Biden’s Visit to U.S.-Mexico Border

    Title 42 termination ‘overdue’, not ‘effective’ to manage migration

    Research and Features

    Study: Survey Methodology Should Be Calibrated to Account for Negative Attitudes About Immigrants and Asylum-Seekers

    A study analyses racial discrimination in job recruitment in Europe

    DACA has not had a negative impact on the U.S. job market

    ASBMB cautions against drastic immigration fee increases

    Study compares NGO communication around migration

    Collaboration, support structures needed to address ‘polycrisis’ in the Americas

    TTUHSC El Paso Faculty Teach Students While Caring for Migrants

    Immigrants Report Declining Alcohol Use during First Two Years after Arriving in U.S.

    How asylum seeker credibility is assessed by authorities

    Speeding up and simplifying immigration claims urgently needed to help with dire situation for migrants experiencing homelessness

    Training Individuals to Work in their Communities to Reduce Health Disparities

    ‘Regulation by reputation’: Rating program can help combat migrant abuse in the Gulf

    Migration of academics: Economic development does not necessarily lead to brain drain

    How has the COVID-19 pandemic affected immigration?

    Immigrants with Darker Skin Tones Perceive More Discrimination

     

    Newswise

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  • “The 3 Vital Keys of Our Happy ADHD Marriage”

    “The 3 Vital Keys of Our Happy ADHD Marriage”

    The day before our wedding, the entire city of Sydney became blanketed by heavy red dust. I woke up coughing, I could taste dirt in my mouth, and my bedroom was filled with a rusty glow.“Of course the bloody apocalypse would happen the day before my wedding,” I thought to myself. “I bet my fiancé has been raptured while I was left behind!”

    Catastrophizing is normal for me. It’s part anxiety, part comedic coping mechanism. When my fiancé woke to the dust, he just wondered where it came from and thought about washing the car.Though we both have ADHD and had been diagnosed as adults, our general outlook and ways of functioning are wildly different. We are chalk and cheese; I’m the hyperactive type and he’s the inattentive type, which makes for an interesting union, to say the least. But we continue to make it work after all these years (14 and counting at the time of writing). It all comes down to three vital keys.

    Key #1: Never Go to Sleep Angry

    A lot happens when two adults share a life — and a condition that causes countless frustrations. We’re both forgetful, albeit in different ways. He immediately forgets about his keys if he sets them down. While I can remember where my keys are, I don’t always remember what time it is, even if I’ve just checked, or where I am when I’m driving, even on a familiar route.

    [Get This Free Download: Manage ADHD’s Impact on Your Relationship]

    We also struggle in social settings. In our early days especially, my husband — who had lots of trouble reading facial expressions, keeping up with fast-paced conversation, and even stringing a sentence together — would often withdraw from others. While he was unable to tell when people were making fun of him, I was acutely aware of others’ mocking undertones and uncomfortable shifts in the conversation, all of which set my rejection sensitive dysphoria (RSD) and anxiety into overdrive. I felt the need to overcompensate during lulls in conversation and fill the silence with inappropriate babbling and outrageous antics. I’d drink alcohol to try to manage my intense social anxiety, but all it did was make me even more intense, hyperactive, and hypersensitive.

    It can be tempting to cast blame when our individual challenges invariably come up and affect both of us. But no matter what our day has been like, we agreed from the very beginning of our marriage that we would never go to sleep angry at each other.

    This doesn’t mean that we have long conversations into the night to reach resolve. It simply means that we’ve made the choice to push past shame and blame to say we love each other, no matter what. All hurts and misunderstandings do not change how much we love one another.

    Key #2: Always Be Willing to Learn — and to Let Things Go

    Learning about our unique ways of functioning has been so helpful in our marriage. We do our best to help each other in our respective trouble spots in day-to-day living. That has meant learning to let the little things go.

    [Read: Yeah, We Both Have ADHD — and It’s a Marriage Made in Heaven!?]

    There is one clutter-free, easy-access key holder in our home. Sometimes, my husband’s keys don’t make it to the took and land on a nearby table — where they’re bound to end up under a pile of mail. If I see his keys on the table, I put them in the key hook rather than give him a hard time for forgetting. And life runs a little more smoothly for both of us that day.

    In social settings, my husband has worked hard to pick up on signs that my social anxiety is kicking in. He checks in with me and firmly puts his hand on my shoulder or back to ground me. He reminds me to take a walk or remove myself from the stressful situation. More often than not, these strategies ease me back to present. When they don’t work, he doesn’t push it. But later, we reflect on what happened and how we can both try to do things differently next time. Then, we move on.

    Key #3: Never Stop Laughing Together

    The benefits of laughter and of having a sense of humor are well-known. Somehow, throughout our marriage, we’ve had an innate ability to find joy in the hardest of circumstances. Laughter is our reset button. (That’s why it’s hard for us to go to bed angry at each other.) We have literally laughed in the middle of heated arguments (usually at how ridiculous we are behaving), the result being instant tension and stress relief.

    Our Personal Key: Don’t Say The ‘D’ Word

    Many Ds have been unearthed in our relationship: diagnosis, depression, deficit, disorder, dysfunction, dysregulation, dyscalculia, and the list goes on. But we decided from the beginning that one particular ‘D’ word was never going to be on the table: Divorce.

    That word is not hidden up the back of the junk drawer, waiting to be pulled out and thrown into an argument like a gaslit weapon. Sure, there are painful spaces in our relationship that cause us to withdraw, defend, attack, or drag up the muddy waters of the past. But we vowed until death — not diagnosis — do us part.

    With both of us wired as fighters, we are willing to “never say die.” We’ll do everything to fight for our marriage, including holding firm to our keys (the kind we’ll never lose) and even looking for new ones. It’s hard work, but we know that our diagnoses are not a marriage death sentence. They do not define us negatively. They are what make us so strong and loving.

    Happy Marriage Rules for ADHD Couples: Next Steps

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    Nathaly Pesantez

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  • Personal Hygiene Tips for ADHD Brains (and Bodies)

    Personal Hygiene Tips for ADHD Brains (and Bodies)

    Three years ago, I launched the @domesticblisters TikTok channel to serve a neurodiverse audience. Short videos on the channel present strategies for accomplishing daily care tasks. For all the ADHD information swirling around social media, very little addresses how the simple tasks of living are sometimes the hardest for us. Cleaning, doing dishes, folding piles of laundry — these tasks are simple for most people but tend to paralyze some of us with executive functioning problems. Perhaps more difficult than the struggle to stay on top of these tasks is the immense shame we feel when we’re unable to do the things we see our peers accomplish with ease.

    In my experience, this kind of shame tends to spike when we struggle with personal hygiene. How could we be so incapable? Our differences in executive functioning can create significant hurdles when it comes to the daily demands of living. And that makes hygiene routines our common kryptonite.

    [Download: Free Guide to Health & Fitness: Lifestyle Changes for Adults with ADHD]

    The ADHD brain often struggles to transform multiple mundane steps into a routine that works. So instead of forcing on yourself neurotypical routines that are doomed from the start, try adapting your daily hygiene rituals with the following four approaches:

    Personal Hygiene Hacks for ADHD Brains

    1. Rather than trying to adhere to a strict schedule and setting for brushing your teeth, build in flexibility so that you can care for your teeth whenever the thought strikes you. Place a toothbrush and toothpaste in multiple locations: by your kitchen sink, in your shower, in your guest bathroom, and even in your car. Because of the way ADHD motivation systems work, you are most likely to think about brushing your teeth while headed out the door (Oh no! My breath stinks!) or when randomly prompted by the sight of your toothbrush (I’m already here, so I might as well!). You might also consider keeping deodorant and a hairbrush or comb in these places.
    2. If showering is too boring, try getting a waterproof speaker. A good podcast or audiobook that you save for the shower can suddenly transform an onerous chore into a decadent treat. Also, a fancy hair towel or a high-powered blow dryer can reduce time spent on your wet hair.
    3. If showering aggravates your sensory aversion, consider changing your environment to mitigate this. For instance, turning on a space heater before a shower will prevent that awful cold shock you feel when exiting the tub or shower. Using a soft and gentle towel also typically helps.
    4. Create a hygiene kit for the days you skip a shower or bath. You deserve to be clean and comfortable; there is more than one way to get that done. A little bag with deodorant, dry shampoo, body wipes, and mouthwash can be kept in multiple locations in your home and car.

    Maintaining good hygiene is important to your health, so get creative and find what works for your unique brain.

    How to Keep House While Drowning – with ADHD: Next Steps

    KC Davis, LPC, is a licensed professional therapist and the author of How to Keep House While Drowning.

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    Melanie Wachsman

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  • “Stop Chasing Others’ Approval: On Twice Exceptionality and Living Life for Me”

    “Stop Chasing Others’ Approval: On Twice Exceptionality and Living Life for Me”

    “You’re going to do great things!”
    “You have so much potential!”
    “You’re so talented. I see great things in your future!”
    So many people in my life have directed various versions of these well-meaning yet anxiety-inducing, expectation-laden comments to me during every phase of my academic career. As a gifted child, I felt as though I could succeed and, at the same time, as if I had to… or I would be letting everyone down.This black-and-white way of thinking did get me to check off a list of great accomplishments:

    • first in my family to graduate college, go on to complete a masters, and start a doctoral program
    • a successful career
    • financially independent since age 18

    But hidden in these accomplishments are the many, many struggles and failures I encountered along the way:

    • flunking out my freshman year of college
    • being asked to resign from a job for an error in judgment I made
    • flunking out of my Ph.D. program due to being unable to complete assignments
    • piling on credit card debt

    I eventually learned that my setbacks — so confusing and contrary to my successes — were actually due to undiagnosed and unmanaged ADHD. I was twice exceptional (or 2e) all this time, and I had no idea.

    [Read: I Grew Up Gifted and Autistic — and Suffered the Burnout of Twice Exceptionality]

    My undergraduate transcript is a wonderful example of my interest-based nervous system. I had As and Bs in classes within my major, but failed yoga (which likely had to do with my impulsive, oppositional streak).

    Perspective Shift: From Never Enough to Good Enough

    At the age of 29, I came to the realization that my life is my own, and while the approval of others is nice, I would never feel content if I continued to chase it. I made the conscious decision to let go of “greatness” as defined by others and to start experiencing life as it came to me.

    Letting go of greatness freed me up to be content with where I am currently, instead of always trying to do more or be better. I still have personal and professional goals, but these goals are now based on my values rather than the values of other people.

    My shift from “not good enough” to “good enough” has changed my self-view from lazy, unmotivated, and stubborn to efficient, understanding, and passionate.

    [Read: “Twice Exceptional Is a Cruel Double-Edged Sword”]

    Now I am:

    • enrolled in a doctoral program to advance MY learning and knowledge
    • in a job I can see myself in long-term, with opportunities to advance or switch it up, if I choose
    • writing this blog from a house that I own after paying down my debt

    I don’t believe any of this would’ve been possible if I hadn’t made the choice to live life for me, instead of an image I could never realistically attain. I’ve found a specialty I love and a life that finally feels sustainable.

    How to Live for Yourself

    If you are 2e like me, or if you see yourself in my story, start living life for you with these steps:

    1. Clearly identify your current values. Your personal values will come to define and frame everything else you do in life.
    2. Set at least one goal for each value. They can be as broad or as specific as you like. For example, if you value family, how will you commit to spending more time with them?
    3. Let go of the constant pursuit of greatness. If you are always thinking of where you could or should be, it only robs you of the ability to appreciate who and where you are now.
    4. Foster self-compassion. You are a multi-faceted person. Your worth is not directly measured by your productivity or your achievements.

    2e and How to Live for Yourself: Next Steps

    SUPPORT ADDITUDE
    Thank you for reading ADDitude. To support our mission of providing ADHD education and support, please consider subscribing. Your readership and support help make our content and outreach possible. Thank you.

    Nathaly Pesantez

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  • 5 hurt after fire at Houston-area Shell petrochemical plant

    5 hurt after fire at Houston-area Shell petrochemical plant

    HOUSTON — Fire erupted at a petrochemical plant in the Houston area Friday, leaving five workers hospitalized and sending up a huge plume of smoke visible for miles.

    Emergency responders were called to help around 3 p.m. at the Shell facility in Deer Park, a suburb east of Houston. The city of Deer Park said in an advisory that there was no shelter-in-place order for residents.

    Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said five contracted employees were hospitalized for precautionary reasons, adding that they were not burned. He said they were taken to a hospital due to heat exhaustion and proximity to the fire.

    Nothing exploded, Gonzalez said, although the sheriff’s office initially responded to emergency calls saying there was an explosion.

    As of Friday evening, the fire was still burning but had died down and was contained, Gonzalez said.

    The cause of the blaze was still being investigated. Officials said they were monitoring the air for any impact from the fire but so far there was nothing that was concerning.

    The fire at Shell’s Deer Park Chemicals facility started at about 2:56 p.m. in the olefins unit, the company said on Twitter. The product that ignited includes cracked heavy gas oil, cracked light gas oil and gasoline, according to Shell Deer Park.

    “The cause of the fire will be the subject of a future investigation, and our immediate priorities remain the safety of people and the environment,” Shell Deer Park said.

    Shell was conducting its own air quality monitoring, but the city has yet to receive an update, said Kaitlyn Bluejacket, a spokesperson for Deer Park. She said they have been advised by Shell that there is no need at the time to shelter in place, but that the city would update residents if that changed.

    Fire crews from the plant, as well as nearby plants responded.

    Wind conditions were favorable for fighting the blaze, although temperatures soared to near 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32.2 degrees Celsius) in the Houston area, but high humidity made it feeler hotter than 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius.)

    Harris County Fire Marshal Captain James Singleton said his office would be in Deer Park through the weekend and was working to figure out what happened.

    “You’re looking at a large number of people that need to be interviewed,” Singleton said. “Everyone who was at the unit at the time of the fire, the controllers, management, anybody that called 911.”

    Houston meteorologists said the smoke plumes were visible from space, via satellite.

    Facility fires are not uncommon in the area, with the strong presence of the petrochemical industry. In March, an explosion and a fire erupted at a facility owned by INEOS Phenol in nearby Pasadena, Texas, leaving one injured.

    A fire in 2019 at a facility owned by Intercontinental Terminals Company burned for days and though it caused no injuries, it triggered air quality warnings.

    ___

    Coronado reported from Austin, Texas.

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  • Berkeley professor apologizes for false Indigenous identity

    Berkeley professor apologizes for false Indigenous identity

    SAN FRANCISCO — An anthropology professor at the University of California, Berkeley, whose identity as Native American had been questioned for years apologized this week for falsely identifying as Indigenous, saying she is “a white person” who lived an identity based on family lore.

    Elizabeth Hoover, associate professor of environmental science, policy and management, said in an apology posted Monday on her website that she claimed an identity as a woman of Mohawk and Mi’kmaq descent but never confirmed that identity with those communities or researched her ancestry until recently.

    “I caused harm,” Hoover wrote. “I hurt Native people who have been my friends, colleagues, students, and family, both directly through fractured trust and through activating historical harms. This hurt has also interrupted student and faculty life and careers. I acknowledge that I could have prevented all of this hurt by investigating and confirming my family stories sooner. For this, I am deeply sorry.”

    Hoover’s alleged Indigenous roots came into question in 2021 after her name appeared on an “Alleged Pretendian List.” The list compiled by Jacqueline Keeler, a Native American writer and activist, includes more than 200 names of people Keeler says are falsely claiming Native heritage.

    Hoover first addressed doubts about her ethnic identity last year when she said in an October post on her website that she had conducted genealogical research and found “no records of tribal citizenship for any of my family members in the tribal databases that were accessed.”

    Her statement caused an uproar, and some of her former students authored a letter in November demanding her resignation. The letter was signed by hundreds of students and scholars from UC Berkeley and other universities along with members of Native American communities. It also called for her to apologize, stop identifying as Indigenous and acknowledge she had caused harm, among other demands.

    “As scholars embedded in the kinship networks of our communities, we find Hoover’s repeated attempts to differentiate herself from settlers with similar stories and her claims of having lived experience as an Indigenous person by dancing at powwows absolutely appalling,” the letter reads.

    Janet Gilmore, a UC Berkeley spokesperson, said in a statement she couldn’t comment on whether Hoover faces disciplinary action, saying discussing it would violate “personnel matters and/or violate privacy rights, both of which are protected by law.”

    “However, we are aware of and support ongoing efforts to achieve restorative justice in a way that acknowledges and addresses the extent to which this matter has caused harm and upset among members of our community,” Gilmore added.

    Hoover is the latest person to apologize for falsely claiming a racial or ethnic identity.

    U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren angered many Native Americans during her presidential campaign in 2018 when she used the results of a DNA test to try and rebut the ridicule of then-President Donald Trump, who had derisively referred to her as “fake Pocahontas.”

    Despite the DNA results, which showed some evidence of a Native American in Warren’s lineage, probably six to 10 generations ago, Warren is not a member of any tribe, and DNA tests are not typically used as evidence to determine tribal citizenship.

    Warren later offered a public apology at a forum on Native American issues, saying she was “sorry for the harm I have caused.”

    In 2015, Rachel Dolezal was fired as head of the Spokane, Washington, chapter of the NAACP and was kicked off a police ombudsman commission after her parent told local media their daughter was born white but was presenting herself as Black. She also lost her job teaching African studies at Eastern Washington University in nearby Cheney.

    Hoover said her identity was challenged after she began her first assistant professor job. She began teaching at UC Berkeley in the Fall of 2020.

    “At the time, I interpreted inquiries into the validity of my Native identity as petty jealousy or people just looking to interfere in my life,” she wrote.

    Hoover said that she grew up in rural upstate New York thinking she was someone of mixed Mohawk, Mi’kmaq, French, English, Irish and German descent, and attending food summits and powwows. Her mother shared stories about her grandmother being a Mohawk woman who married an abusive French-Canadian man and who committed suicide, leaving her children behind to be raised by someone else.

    She said she would no longer identify as Indigenous but would continue to help with food sovereignty and environmental justice movements in Native communities that ask her for her support.

    In her apology issued Monday, Hoover acknowledged she benefited from programs and funding that were geared toward Native scholars and said she is committed to engaging in the restorative justice process taking place on campus, “as well as supporting restorative justice processes in other circles I have been involved with, where my participation is invited.”

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  • Don’t Be Afraid of Beau Is Afraid—Unless the Overbearing Jewish Mother Trope Is Your Worst Nightmare

    Don’t Be Afraid of Beau Is Afraid—Unless the Overbearing Jewish Mother Trope Is Your Worst Nightmare

    As one of those movies that has so much psychological buildup surrounding it before one even goes into the theater (or rather, if one goes into the theater at all to watch movies), Beau Is Afraid has as many things working against garnering audience attention as it does attracting it. In the latter column, of course, is that it’s directed by Ari Aster, the writer-director slowly but steadily being groomed into a modern auteur by A24. Then there is the cast, an impressive coterie of actors, including Patti LuPone, Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan and Parker Posey, led by Joaquin Phoenix. But there in the “repelling” column is that the movie comes across as “weird”—deliberately “off-putting.” Especially to the layperson. This, of course, is compounded by the two hour and fifty-nine-minute runtime of the film. In effect, Aster is saying, “This movie is not about people-pleasing.” Some would be hard-pressed to see it as being about anything at all. Those people have perhaps never suffered from the crippling anxiety and paranoia involved in simply leaving the (semi-)safety of their abode. In that sense, one can look at the first portion of Beau Is Afraid as being like What About Bob? on steroids, complete with Bob’s (Bill Murray) extreme phobia of leaving the apartment. Except that, in Beau’s case, that fear is entirely merited.

    Living in the fictional city of Corrina, CR, it reads visually like a combination of New York and San Francisco (and yes, SF gets far more flak for its violent, erratic homeless population than NY—though perhaps NY simply has a greater number of ass-kissers at its PR disposal). Beau’s apartment building is situated next to a sex shop called Erectus Ejectus and across the street from the Cheapo Depot, a bodega run by a take-no-prisoners proprietor who isn’t liable to give you any kind of discount when you happen to be short on the amount just because you’re a regular. After all, he can’t afford such niceties in a hostile climate like this. One that, in the end, seems entirely manufactured by Mona Wasserman (Patti LuPone), Beau’s corporate maven of a mother. The type of woman who far exceeds a cutesy, demeaning term like “girlboss.” This is a woman who puts all previous known masterminds and manipulators to shame. To this end, Aster, born into a Jewish family, can now easily be characterized by this film as the proverbial self-hating Jew. No longer a title that Woody Allen alone can claim as a result of his affirmed cancellation in the film industry (essentially capitulating to that cancellation by admitting his next movie would be his last…until backpedaling on that statement soon after).

    As such, Aster’s presentation of a Jewish mother as so overbearing and controlling that she would go to such lengths to hyper-manage her only son’s life definitely one-ups any self-hating depictions Allen ever offered (see: Annie Hall, Deconstructing Harry). Or Allen’s nemesis, for that matter: Philip Roth. And yes, there are plenty of Portnoy’s Complaint elements in the mix here (chief among them the giant penis locked in the attic intended to represent Beau’s father).

    It would also make one remiss in their cinephilic tendencies to overlook The Truman Show as a major influence on this particular work. With that “I’m being watched” kind of revelation occurring in Part Two of the movie, as Beau finds himself in the “care” of a sinister couple of means named Grace (Amy Ryan) and Roger (Nathan Lane) after being mowed down by their truck while in the midst of running through the street outside his apartment naked. This occurring as a result of the homeless population outside finding their way in as a roundabout result of Beau’s keys being stolen from his door. After they party all night with Beau watching from some scaffolding outside, he awakens the next morning to find his apartment empty. Or so he thinks. However, upon taking a bath after learning of his mother’s death from a UPS guy (voiced and briefly cameo’d by Bill Hader), the sight of another crazed “unhoused” person clinging to the ceiling above him ultimately sends him running outside in his birthday suit. Oh yes, and there’s also an errant serial killer in the neighborhood called Birthday Boy Stab Man, likely dubbed as such because he “operates” in his birthday suit. And, of course, he ends up stabbing Beau a few times after he’s rendered immobile and barely conscious due to the truck hitting him. Therefore, all of Beau’s worst fears and anxieties are realized—and then some.

    It’s not a coincidence that all those fears and anxieties start to reach a crescendo after Beau has “rejected” his mother by telling her he’s not going to make it to the airport in time for their scheduled visit because someone stole his keys and he doesn’t feel comfortable heading out until the locks have been changed. But Mona has her ways and her machinations for coaxing Beau into an Odyssean journey to make it back as soon as possible so that her funeral can proceed. Because, that’s right, she’s faked her own death to inflict the amount of guilt she thinks he feels deserving of (and here, the trope of a Jewish mother’s guilt is on full blast). Per Mona’s lawyer, “Dr.” Cohen, she’s stipulated in her will that the ceremony cannot take place without him. Unfortunately for Beau’s guilt quotient, it gets upped by the fact that Jewish law dictates that a body must be buried right away. So it is that Beau is both a bad son and a bad Jew. A fate that seems irreversible to all male Jews, if we’re to go by literature and film. Grace and Roger, the epitome of a white-bread Christian couple, could never know Beau’s torment, even as they conspire to be a part of it. It’s not as clear whether their surviving teenage daughter, Toni (Kylie Rogers), is as “in on it” as her parents, who have been trying to fill the void left in the absence of their dead son, Nathan, a soldier that died in combat. Caring for his fellow battalion member, Jeeves (Denis Ménochet), an unhinged man requiring many meds, is the obvious way for them to “make up” for the loss of Nathan. But with the arrival of Beau comes a new opportunity to “nurture.” Even if it’s as smothering and oppressive as Mona’s version of “nurturing.”

    Early on in the movie, some would immediately say the world Beau inhabits is cartoonish and absurdist—at one point literally becoming animated as he imagines himself as the protagonist of a play he’s watching. Or that all of his fears are a result of the kind of hyper-neurotic nature that Jews are frequently stereotyped as having (of course, who can blame them with anti-Semitism alive and well even after the extermination of six million of their kind?). But, in the end, the one fear he doesn’t think to have is actually not so far-fetched: being monitored constantly. For it’s not hard to believe that someone (especially someone with enough money) could track, record and/or film your every move, and then use it against you when they finally want to render you totally paralyzed by the paranoia you thought you had overcome. Worse still, use it to play into all your worst senses of guilt. After all, it’s no coincidence that the billboard outside Beau’s building bears the Big Brother-y tagline, “Jesus Sees Your Abominations.” More like Mona does.

    And, talking of taglines, Beau has been part of Mona’s advertising campaigns for most of his life. She being the head of a multi-faceted conglomerate that has its hand in everything from pharmaceuticals to film production. With Mona’s company name for the latter being Mommy Knows Best. An eerie assertion from a woman who has her eye in every possible surveillance pie. This going hand in hand with “security,” for which MW (which stands for Mona Wasserman) also has a tagline: “Your security has been our priority for forty years.” Beau’s own age is forty-eight (same as Joaquin Phoenix’s) as we come to find at the end, when a god-like voice (Dr. Cohen’s) announces his date of birth as May 10, 1975. So perhaps the key root of all Beau’s issues is that he’s a Taurus. But no, it’s being born to a Jewish mother, if Aster would have us convinced of anything. It’s also a very deliberate word choice for Mona to use the phrase “claw your way out of me” to Beau during their ultimate showdown in what can be called Part Four of the film. For it is with that “clawing” out of her womb that Beau Is Afraid begins, with the audience seeing his birth from Beau’s perspective.

    From the first moments of his existence, anxiety permeates everything as his mother frantically demands to know about the state and health of her child, who appears not to be breathing normally. But with a requisite slap on the ass, Beau is prompted to cry. This slapping cue turning more metaphorical as his repressed life wears on. For every time he is lashed in one way or another by his mother’s various cues, Beau snaps to attention and grudgingly “performs.” His life is not his own—it belongs to his mother. And this is made no more apparent than in her financial control over him. Indeed, Beau’s credit card is “mysteriously” deactivated after he tells Mona he can’t make his flight. Whether or not Beau was as willing a participant in his own infantilization as Mona is up to the viewer to decide. However, those with parents who have infantilized them are likely aware that being irrevocably handicapped by the crushing weight of “safety and security” eventually feels like an unavoidable fate rather than something that can be fought against. Surrender Dorothy, as it is said. Or, in this case, Surrender Beau. That’s what Mona, in the Wicked Witch of the West’s stead is undeniably saying. And she’s saying it because she knows she has all the resources necessary to take him down and debilitate him.

    In this regard, Jacobin’s take on Mona as a cold capitalist machine that it would be impossible to receive any unconditional or pure love from is right on the money (no pun intended). Jacobin, too, points out certain similarities between Citizen Kane and Beau Is Afraid in that it’s “a character study of a boy whose ‘parents were a bank.’” Or, for Beau, “parent.” And what kind of love can really be received from someone who has to be clinical and cold enough to be able to make millions (or billions) of dollars? It bears noting that Jacobin’s critique of the film isn’t favorable, writing Beau off as the product of a writer who gets off on “trauma tourism”—but if he had really suffered from that much genuine trauma, Beau/Aster wouldn’t have the luxury of portraying it at all. Maybe, to a certain extent, this is a fair assessment. The people given a megaphone to talk about trauma still tend to be people who grew up middle-class, white and male. Read: Aster. And yet, as Bob Dylan said, “I’m helpless, like a rich man’s child.” This simile is not without its value in considering a being such as Beau, given a surfeit of tangible tools as a result of having a rich progenitor, but no real ones he could actually use to cope in a life outside of “the nest.”

    And what could “real life” possibly be to a boy who ostensibly grew up in a fishbowl town called Wasserton (named after his mother), anyway? This, again, channels The Truman Show vibes, when it’s not also smacking of something pulled from the mind of fellow Jewish auteur Charlie Kaufman (think: Synecdoche, New York). And, like Kaufman, Aster is concerned with the futility of attempting to alter one’s preordained fate. Because no matter how we try to fight it or “rewrite” it (as the artist so often does in their work), in the end, “it is written.” That much is made obvious when we see Beau fast-forward through the surveillance footage of himself at Grace and Roger’s to the final scene in the movie. The final scene is his life. One that will be quite full-circle in terms of comparing it to the opening scene: his birth.  

    As for the mother-son dynamic that serves as the central anchor of the narrative, the classic Oedipus story is also constantly in motion, with Mona clearly wanting to keep her son’s love and desire all to herself—hence, the urban legend she scares him into believing about his father that keeps Beau as well beyond a forty-year-old virgin. With the epididymitis to prove it. That means huge, swollen balls, to the unmedically trained. Ironically, of course, Beau’s “big balls” don’t translate to the idiomatic version of that phrase inferring bravery and “chutzpah.” Quite the opposite as he spends most of the movie quivering and cowering in fear (the movie title is there for a reason). Not just of what could happen, but what has happened already. Which is where Aster’s knack for horror melds seamlessly with the psychological trauma of memory, and remembering. That’s all Beau does, as we seem to see him existing in multiple planes of time via perpetual reflection (such is the luxury of not having a job apart from existence itself).

    In this way, viewers will be allowed to question how much of what happens is “just in his head” versus how much is “reality.” Which, as most know, is totally subjective. This being a large part of why Mona can manipulate Beau’s “reality” for her own controlling ends. Ends that appear to be more sadistic than altruistic, as she would like to tell herself. For example, when he’s born and arrives out of the womb in silence, her demand is: “Why isn’t he crying?” In other words, doesn’t he know how painful it is to exist (nay, for Mona to bring him into existence) and what the according reaction should be? This later translates to another question she asks of Beau: “Is he afraid enough of the world?” No? Well then Mona—rich Mona—will make it so. With this in mind, although Beau is firmly Gen X, we have an undeniable commentary on millennial-baby boomer relations contained in Beau Is Afraid as well. For was it not the boomers who wanted to give their millennial spawn the pristine, protected childhood that they never got? Resulting in the manufacture of a generation consisting mostly of scared, confused man-children just like Beau.

    Initially billed by Aster as a “nightmare comedy” (like something in the spirit of Martin Scorsese’s After Hours in which all the protagonist wants to do is go home, but his prewritten destiny has other tortures in mind), how the genre of Beau Is Afraid comes across is more about how the viewer themselves sees life: as a comedy or tragedy. Here, too, it’s hard not to think of “Jewish representative” Woody Allen, who based an entire movie on this premise—the subpar Melinda and Melinda.

    For the seasoned neurotic and those accustomed to even the most basic of tasks in life being herculean to achieve without incident, the accurate takeaway is that it’s an absurdist tragicomedy. And so it goes without saying that any Marvel-loving gentile normies likely won’t bother with wandering into this film at all. And if they do, the criticism and balking is to be expected.

    Genna Rivieccio

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