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Psychiatrist shares thoughts on pandemic anxiety

BY AMY R. KAUFMAN the surgery. On a last hilly walk, I wor-
In the second year of the COVID-19 ried about all the possible consequences. I
pandemic, psychiatrist Charles Kuttner re- arranged with a colleague to help me get
ceived a call from a woman who was not neuropsychological testing if I developed
his patient. memory loss or suicidal depression. I
“I’ve never been quite this anxious,” she didn’t have to see him.”
said. “Isolation has magnified my loneli- The only aftermath he mentions is giving
ness. Time has no boundaries; the future up biking: “That was my identity.” At one
is all uncertain. In the middle of the night, time, he biked 1,000 miles per year, and
I wake up afraid. My old friend is distant he put 12,000 miles on a couple of two-
now. There’s so much divisiveness in pol- wheeled recumbent bikes. He misses what
itics. The whole world is in crisis. I’m not he calls the meditative aspects of biking.
hopeful … What is happening to me?” On summer days, he and his wife, Donna,
In one study of the pandemic’s emotional go kayaking.
toll, this anxiety is termed “virus-induced A member of Congregation Kesser Israel,
uncertainty.” Kuttner calls it “existential Kuttner was raised in Reform Judaism and
depression.” became more observant many years ago.
This new layer of anxiety is expressed in That was before he, and subsequently both
a narrative that spirals downward from per- Dr. Charles Kuttner. of his children, developed lymphoma.
sonal insecurities to an apocalyptic ending. any other kind) leads to the manufacture of “Personally, I think it’s very difficult to
“Almost everyone seems to have a sense of nerve endings, which is our way of rewiring deal with crises in life, particularly on-
looming disaster,” he says. how our brains work in their new world.” going ones, if one doesn’t have faith,” he
Kuttner has treated anxiety and depres- Kuttner encourages people to discover the says. “Some form of meditation, spirituali-
sion – closely related conditions – for 45 resilience written in their genes. He is the ty, mindfulness is essential. There are times
years. “The milder forms of anxiety and son of a Holocaust survivor and the grand- when things are so rough that we need to
depression are now overlaid with a high child of a family that endured pogroms. get off the world for a while. If that’s three
level of apprehension brought about by the “Jews are selectively bred for this,” he minutes staring at the wall or a few mo-
pandemic,” he says. says. “We are genetically programmed to ments during Amidah (morning prayer),
The doctor teaches his patients how to be resilient; we’re also programmed to be it’s good to remove oneself from the prob-
adapt to the novel circumstances created anxious. If your maternal grandmother lems. Rabbi Abraham Twerski’s The Spir-
by the virus. lived through a pogrom, you carry with you itual Self is the best handbook for people
First, he says, “Interrupt the negative some of the fear and anxiety she had. Imag- exploring spirituality. It asks the right ques-
thinking. By repeating the narrative, we’re ine a people like us, surviving the Shoah tions, and it is the most nondogmatic book
reinforcing the hopelessness, loneliness (Holocaust) and going on and having hap- you could imagine.”
and desperation of it all.” py families.” Kuttner grieved the loss of a biking buddy
“Thinking globally may get you down,” The doctor himself was thrown into to- and his buddy’s wife to COVID in 2020.
he says. “Thinking locally may give you day’s “apocalyptic movie” when he un- “He was my good friend in Cycle Oregon,
some empowerment.” derwent heart surgery in the midst of the and near the John Day River we had one hill
He tells his patients they can promote the pandemic. Vaccines weren’t yet available, that seemed impossible,” he recalls. “The
growth of new nerve endings – the connec- and there was a shortage of doctors. only way to do this hill was, ‘I got this, I
tions between nerves – in the brain. “In my early 50s, I had been treated for can do this.’ Since that hill, Clarno Grade,
“One of the ways we can facilitate this lymphoma, and chemotherapy and radia- every hill seems eminently surmountable.”
is through antidepressant medicines, but tion had damaged my heart,” he says. “But Amy R. Kaufman is a Portland writer and
exercise is more effective,” he says. “Vig- the treatment saved my life and gave me book editor. She wrote for the print edition
orous walking, lifting, aerobic exercise (or 22 good years. I was apprehensive about of the Jewish Review for 11 years.
NEW AT TIVNU (cont. from previous page)

Hebrew, but it’s more aligned with the When she’s not working, you can find
Tivnu philosophy,” explains Program Di- Abby enjoying a good novel, horseback
rector Adinah Miller.) riding or refining her tarot skills.
Abby comes from Yarmouth, Maine, Nina’s childhood in Pennsylvania sparked
where her family still lives. She comes the insatiable love of canoeing, kayaking,
to Tivnu with a strong passion for social fishing, hiking and camping that has served
justice, especially about food and the envi- as the heartbeat of her passion for a life
ronment. Abby graduated from Dickinson dedicated to adventure and exploration.
College with a bachelor’s in international She graduated from Binghamton Universi-
studies in 2020 and found her way into ty in 2021 with a degree in Judaic studies,
working at the intersection of Judaism and history and Israel studies. Abby Israel, left, and Nina First.
social justice by joining the Avodah Jew- When she isn’t reading, you can often find
ish Service Corps in New York, where she Nina working on her parents’ sawmill, de- For information on next year’s Tivnu gap
worked for Footsteps as the Community veloping her fresh roll of film, backpacking year, email Leanna at leanna@tivnu.org or
Engagement Program Associate. and definitely laughing. visit the website tivnu.org.
Jewish Review Nov. 10, 2021 7