It has been a while since I posted, as the pandemic continues to impose challenges. However, as large numbers of people are still experiencing distress and unmet needs, I looked for how to keep the mission of Prescriptions for Hope going, i.e. to prevent violence and depression and improve the health and well-being of populations.
Pursuant to these goals, I am launching today #52WeeksofLove.
Why?
Well…why not?
The pandemic has derailed a lot of things and public health is in the ICU, so we have to find new ways to keep advancing universal goals of health and well-being.
Love – in its multitude of forms – is at the heart of so much that makes life meaningful and worth living. However, we as humans individually, and collectively as humanity, have yet to realize our fullest potential to love one another and love our earth. I don’t mean this in a granola, tree-hugging way. I mean just simple things like being present to those we love and taking time to care for others in need.
I also mean big things on a population level – such as creating healthy workplaces, and promoting love and other pro-social content in mass media, instead of the violence and sarcasm that passes off as entertainment and foments violence, discord and hatred.
Join me over the next 52 weeks in advancing love in small and big ways – be it in your personal life or in the world.
I am working on creating the accompanying web site which will go live in the next days. It will feature resources for you to take action, inspirational materials, and workshops and talks.
Let us work together to increase the net total of love in the world. It is the only way forward and is the only way for us to survive on this planet and create a positive legacy for future generations.
Thank you in advance for joining me in whatever way you can, within your spheres of action and influence.
It’s the perfect day to reflect on the progress women have made in the world, and to also reflect on what remains to be done.
The ability to read and write is something most of us take for granted. But it is a skill that is out of reach for millions of people, especially women and girls.
Just as we can eradicate diseases through vaccines and proper hygiene, we can eradicate illiteracy rapidly in the world- through focused and concerted action.
Literacy is a social vaccine that confers many benefits including: participation in the workforce; reduction of marginalization and associated psychological distress; reduction of risk of human trafficking; and improvement in the health of individuals and nations. It is also a proven pathway out of poverty.
Unfortunately, education is not viewed as “urgent” when it comes to various health and social agendas. It’s just not sexy. Thus it is not aggressively pursued in the same way politicians and other decision makers pursue the development of vaccines against infectious diseases.
However, education is crucial for good health and is one of the foundations for a strong society. Literacy falls under the rubric of “social determinants of health,” i.e. non-medical factors that have a significant impact on health and which can account for anywhere from 30-50% of health outcomes.
Women’s literacy is associated with reduced risk of violence in the family, reduced risk of trafficking and increased participation in civic and community activities.
When people, especially women and girls can read and write, individual lives are transformed. Families are transformed. And ultimately nations and our entire planet are transformed – for the better.
Some years ago, I was interviewed at Northwestern University in Chicago, following a talk, on how to eradicate female illiteracy, that I gave at a global health conference there. Here’s the link if you would like to read a bit more about this topic.
Those of us who can read and write are among the lucky and privileged.
Please consider joining me in making this basic human right accessible to all. In so doing, you will contribute toward: reducing dire poverty; ending the global epidemic of violence which affects one in every three women around the world; and reducing the risk of human trafficking which is occurring at sickeningly high numbers.
I’ve already developed a road map for eradicating female illiteracy in this world. I developed it during a fellowship at Stanford University and it’s been peer-reviewed by experts. Additionally, with help from a few students at Stanford, I developed and piloted an awareness and fundraising event that is ready for scaling across colleges and universities around the world.
What I lack are people to help me get the word out and mobilize support so we can rapidly eradicate female illiteracy, and through that, improve lives. Even just a few minutes of your time will make a difference – when you lend your voice to collective action.
If you have not already signed up for the mailing list, please do so. This way we can keep in touch and you can stay updated about next the steps.
I would also be grateful if you might consider inviting your friends to sign up and keep informed about this and other Prescriptions for Hope.
Together, we can eradicate female illiteracy.
I look forward to hearing from you, and look forward to the day when we will create a world where everyone, including women and girlseverywhere will be able to read and write.
Hope that you are doing well despite these challenging times. The pandemic had led to some unexpected changes in my life, leading me to take a sabbatical from blogging.
However, as February 18th is approaching, I wanted to post this updated version of a short video that explains the how and why of writing a letter of gratitude. Please join me in helping make this an annual practice worldwide – and in so doing, we can increase positive emotions among others and even within ourselves.
These are difficult times for millions of people. At the same time, it is important to keep sight of the selfless service of so many people, including those who have put their own lives on the line while helping others in need. Despite the challenges and tragedies associated with the pandemic, surely there are people who make a positive difference in your life, even if it is in a small way.
I invite you to take a moment to consider what is going right in this most imperfect of times, and to please consider writing at least one letter of gratitude to someone who has touched your life for the better.
Thank you for subscribing and thank you for sharing the word to help grow Write a Letter of Gratitude Day into an annual worldwide event.
Sincerely, Dr. S.D. Shanti P.S. If you happen to have ties to the University of Michigan, I would be grateful if you might consider sharing this with your contacts there, for reasons you will discover in the video.
by Dr. S.D. Shanti (Editorial Note: It is late afternoon on August 1st in the time zone where I am writing, though the time stamp says August 2nd).
Today, August 1st, is the Swiss National Day, which marks the beginning of the country in 1291. Thus it feels timely to share with you the Swiss origins of Prescriptions for Hope and its current ties to Switzerland.
When people ask me where I am from, I reply that I am from three countries: India, the United States and Switzerland. I moved to Switzerland in my mid-thirties. Over time, I became a Swiss citizen and the country has become my home.
Swiss Origins and Current Ties
It was in Basel, Switzerland, in the Fall of 1997 that I learned about newly released data on mental health in The Global Burden of Disease, a report issued by the World Health Organization and the Harvard School of Public Health. The report stated that by the year 2020 depression would be one of the leading causes of disability worldwide.
That moment in 1997 was the start of a public health journey that initially began with the goal of advancing depression prevention worldwide, and soon expanded to include violence prevention as well. In the ensuing years, it was also in Basel, where the groundwork for my innovations was laid. There I discovered the power of combining psychology, public health and writing, and how this could help people.
My earliest steps were carried out with support from the Gebert-Rüf Foundation in Basel, and the University of Fribourg. Then, following incubation and development at Stanford University and other places in the United States, it is anchored again in Switzerland as we prepare for global scaling of the prevention work.
Prescriptions for Hope operates under the auspices of the Arco Foundation in Winterthur. The Arco Foundation, founded and led by Mr. Heinz Waech, is a “roof foundation,” or Dachstiftung as it is called in German. This structure offers smaller foundations, such as ours, the ability to operate with lower overhead costs in comparison to a conventional foundation, and still gives us full access to professional oversight and financial management.
Innovation in Public Health
When most people think of Switzerland, they typically envision mountains, cheese and chocolate. Banks, Swiss Army knives, yodelling and alphorns also come to mind.
However, for many of us working in public service, Switzerland is synonymous with humanitarian assistance, international cooperation and neutrality. It is also a country with one of the highest per capita rates of innovations. The country that gave the world the International Red Cross and the Geneva Conventions has also given us VELCRO®, the World Wide Web and the hang drum, among other things.
Violence and Depression: Parts of a Social Syndrome
Through my early stage research when searching for cost-effective ways of preventing depression and violence on a large scale, I arrived at a cluster of five elements that are inter-connected: poverty, illiteracy, violence, depression, and inequality.
Together they form a social syndrome, whereby one or more of these elements co-occur. As a result, these elements drag people into a vicious circle of despair and hopelessness.
The global data on violence and depression spurred me to develop new approaches to stopping this downward spiral, and replacing it instead, with a virtuous circle by creating healthier conditions in which people can grow and flourish.
The core of my innovations are contained in a document called A Blueprint for Hope. This document offers practical, cost-effective and research-based ways to create a world free of suicide and inter-personal violence (which affects one in every three women and one in every four children globally).
Growth in a Unique Environment
When I was nineteen years old, while living in the United States, somehow I just knew that my life’s work would involve serving people in poverty. By twenty-two, that knowledge had translated itself into a goal: that one day I would work in public health in Switzerland.
I envisioned a scenario that is not uncommon among people from other countries who end up as senior specialists in Geneva. After my time at Stanford, that goal did come true, in connection with the dental public health side of my life.
In Geneva, I had the opportunity to lead the public side of a multi-country public-private partnership and collaborate with colleagues at the World Health Organization. I even had the chance to speak at the UN during a World Health Assembly, in the setting seen on television news shows, where delegates from around the world sit with their country names in front of them.
But the calling I first heard in Basel in 1997, to advance depression and then violence prevention, never left me. I continued refining and improving the Blueprint for Hope and in the process also created Prescriptions for Hope. Like a slow-cooked dish with various spices that requires time to be ready, my body of work in violence prevention and depression prevention is now fully ready for implementation around the world.
The need for violence and depression prevention has always been great, but it has increased in magnitude due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, as a behavioral scientist and public health practitioner, I am grateful for the opportunities Switzerland has given me to develop innovations in public health. I am also grateful for the opportunity to grow my work there, in a unique environment that supports global collaboration, consensus building, and humanitarian assistance.
Happy Birthday Switzerland! And Thank You!
P.S. In case you are interested, below is an excerpt from a Swiss magazine published in 2005, where I was featured among a group they called “Swiss Who Innovate.” It’s in French and deals with one of my innovations. Due to time constraints I am unable to do the English translation now, but will do so as soon as possible if you are interested.
When faced with a difficult situation, such as the one we are in at this time, think and act—don’t react. Action backed up by intention, as opposed to a knee-jerk reflex, is what social scientists call “agency.” Action with intention is your way out of helplessness.
Keep in mind that you have the ability to act as an agent for yourself and take many courses of action.
There are three kinds of agency:
Personal agency, where you take intentional action to help yourself.
Proxy agency,where another person acts on your behalf. An example of this would be an attorney who represents your interests in a workplace issue.
Collective agency, where you work with others toward a common goal. For instance, you and your neighbors gather signatures to get a city ordinance passed.
The more you respond with thoughtful actions, rather than just reacting to events around you, the better you will feel about yourself and the world.
For maximum effect, try a “Dual Dose of Antidotes.” Take intentional action and back it up with belief in your ability to manage challenges that come your way. The combination of the two antidotes makes you unstoppable.
Rx 20 discussed what are some of the things that must be done to correct structural inequalities. Yet, how can we come together to create change when people are polarized? This video offers a way for how people can come together and create lasting change: Take the Mister Rogers Pledge.
Although I created this video in 2018 on the 90th birthday of Mr. Fred Rogers, the message is still relevant today. Mr. Rogers was an American television personality who achieved iconic status. He was the producer and host of the much-loved, long-running children’s television show Mister Rogers Neighborhood, which was widely viewed by children of all backgrounds in the United States.
Note: This video has been reviewed by Mr. Joe Negri, who played played Handy Man Negri on the show and by Professor Albert Bandura at Stanford, who is also featured in the video in connection with his landmark work on how children learn aggression and violence through observation of others. Mr. Rogers was motivated to create a show for children because of the educational potential of television, and because he was unhappy about the extent of violence on television already present in the 1950’s.
People are protesting and rioting. Companies are issuing statements about diversity and inclusion. Individuals and businesses are making donations to non-profit organizations that support African-American people. And social media is trending with people stating they are allies.
But what more can be can be done if we are to create lasting change? What more must be done to correct structural inequalities?
Some of the answers to this question include ensuring access to health care and good schools for everyone. It is also important to eliminate food deserts and make grocery stores accessible to all. These solutions can be grouped under a broad category known as social determinants of health. They are essential for ensuring good health for individuals, communities and nations.
Social Determinants of Health, Image from HealthyPeople.gov
This short video below, originally intended for persons in the health care professions, describes social determinants of health. However, the message is relevant to anyone who wants to address inequalities in society. Addressing the social determinants of health will improve health outcomes and quality of life for everyone. It is also one sure way to help reduce structural inequalities.
Improving living conditions is one of the keys to creating lasting change and overcoming inequality.
Editorial Note:Professor Zimbardo is one of the most important psychologists of our time. He is an early stage supporter of my work in violence prevention and mental health promotion. We met in 2006 when I was a Reuters Digital Vision Fellow at Stanford University. He immediately understood the scope of my work and is one of my most steadfast supporters. Please share his essay widely, as it offers important insights regarding matters of discrimination.
Why does it matter what the color of our skin is?
Why does it matter what the color of our eyes are?
Why does it matter what the color of our hair is?
These are each external characteristics that vary widely among people from different nations.
Should any of them matter more than our intelligence, our morality, our compassion, or our wonder and delight at our common human nature?
This question obviously contrasts the core of our Inner Being with physical elements of our external being, that are used too often, and wrongly, as social constructions of our self-worth.
Our list could readily be expanded to include what differences does our height or weight matter, or size of our nose really matter?
All of these facial and bodily characteristics mattered very much to the Nazi Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, in his vision of Germany as the perfect Aryan nation, filled with blue-eyed blondes with petite noses! Those external features were characteristic of Nazis as the superior race who had the right to dominate and destroy everyone in every nation that was inferior to those in his Third Reich. Nazi propaganda visualized these mythical perfect Hitler youth as contrasted with dark skin, big nosed Jews—as the enemy—to be destroyed.
————
April 4, 1968: Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. is murdered by a white gunman in Memphis, Tennessee. Riots of protest rock America. Chicago’s Mayor Daly orders police to “shoot to kill.”
April 5, 1968: Mrs. Jane Elliott, a 3rd grade elementary school teacher in the farming town of Riceville, Iowa, population of about 850, all white, all Christian, is preparing her class exercise on Brotherhood. She plans to focus on the plight of Native Americans. But changes her mind and her lesson as she reflects on the significance of Rev. King’s murder. She wonders how she could teach her beloved 28 students to experience personally the power of arbitrary discrimination. Mrs. Elliott choose “eye color” as her demonic device.
She informs the class that she has just learned that brown-eyed people are inferior to blue-eyed people and gives a number of examples to validate that distinction. Then she adds action consequences, such as brown-eyed children have to wear collars, to be put on by their classmates with blue eyes, so they will be more distinguishable. They are forced to sit at desks in the back of the class, and they must also not go to lunch until the blue-eyed, superior children have finished.
Amazingly, these children who had grown up knowing each other very well from earlier classes and family contacts, immediately began to be hostile toward their now “inferior” buddies and playmates. They abused them with derogatory accusations and in physical confrontations. “It was the worst day in my life”, a crying Brown Eye girl proclaimed.
But it got better for her the next day when Mrs. Elliott explained that she had made a mistake; that it was blue eyes who were inferior and brown eyes who were superior.
Did the suffering of the brown eyes on the previous day create a tolerance for their blue-eyed buddies? NOT AT ALL!
Arbitrary discrimination reared its ugliness as they immediately gave what they had gotten—angry abuse at classmates who now were clearly inferior and deserved to be punished for having the wrong eye color.
Mrs. Elliott’s brilliant demonstration of the ease and rapidity of arbitrary discrimination inflicting all in its sphere of influence –
like our current Covid-19 Pandemic is inflicting millions globally with its deadly new virus—
is even more significant now in 2020 than it was nearly 40 years ago.
Please view the powerful documentary of this class exercise in prejudice, A Class Divided, on PBS.Org, a Frontline drama.
All links are included in the post below.
An updated postscript.
Immediately after I became aware of her powerful social psychological experiment, I invited Jane to share her brilliant insights with my Stanford University students and faculty.
Jane Elliott has gone on in her new career as “Discrimination Awareness Warden” with adults from various backgrounds and careers. She demonstrates the ease and rapidity with which discrimination dominates common sense based on any random arbitrary physical characteristic, such as if you can curl your tongue or not. Those who can are the Superior Class, those who can’t obviously belong to the Inferior Class.
To see more about this now 87 year- old dynamo in action view her via these following links.
Here Jane Elliott is talking with Jimmy Fallon recently
(note her sweatshirt proclaiming:
“GOD CREATED ONE RACE, THE HUMAN RACE”)
All links are included in the post below.
And check out a recent Blue Eyes / Brown Eyes experiment Jane did in Britain.
All links are included in the post below.
And here is a powerful documentary about her life’s mission.
All links are included in the post below.
Thanks for your caring concern now and forever more in our uncertain future.
Although it might sound frivolous to intentionally relax, it is in fact a physical and emotional necessity. This has always been the case, but is even more relevant during the COVID-19 pandemic.
When you are in high gear, you must relax and refresh to be at your best. However, the rational side of your mind might want to talk you out of relaxation because it feels indulgent, especially in the face of a mountain of responsibilities.
One of the most important things that you can do to help yourself at this time is to take time to unwind regularly. Your body will thank you and your performance will be sharper. Regular rest and relaxation are not luxuries but necessities for your mind and body.
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
To help you relax, try tensing your muscles for a few seconds and then releasing them. You can do this in a systematic way by tensing your feet first and letting go, then tensing your legs and letting go, and working all the way up to your arms, your shoulders, and the muscles of your face. This is “progressive muscle relaxation.”
If you have the time to do the full routine, that’s great. However, in your time-starved life, sometimes taking a moment for a deep breath is about all you can manage. When crunched for time, try a micro-relaxation and focus only on one or two parts of your body.
Here’s a suggestion for a micro-relaxation. You can adapt it to meet your needs, whether you are at work or at home.
Straighten your arms; gently make your hands into a fist and hold them tightly, but not so tightly that you hurt. Hold the tension for a few seconds and notice the feeling. Then take a deep breath and slowly breathe out as you uncurl your fingers and let them rest on your lap.
Now, feel the contrast between tension and relaxation and appreciate the difference. Your hands might feel warm, heavy, or floppy like a Raggedy Ann doll. If you are at your desk, you can also try this with your feet.
If you are pressed for time, choose only your hands or feet and do this exercise for thirty seconds. It’s just enough time to nudge your mind out of the cycle of escalating tension, even when you are juggling your way through a hectic day.
Millions of people are suddenly dependent on computers for work-related video calls. Then, they transition into video calls with family and friends. Finally they relax with movies streamed via the Internet. All of this adds up to increased amounts of sitting.
Therefore, Risk Factor Mama, Epidemiologist and Expert in All Manner of Deadly Threats to Life, decided to speak out on this topic.
Please reuse and repurpose this video to dance at your desk.
Prescriptions for Hope 