New times

First: It probably was in September, a year after 9-11, when I saw in the online edition of some American newspaper a photo of a firefighter who had to have lots of teddy bears in his bed to be able to sleep. The photo was fascinating, because it’s hard to imagine such a picture to be published had not 9-11 happened. I remember sending the URL to my friend and colleague Urban over iChat, and that he said something like that it probably was possible because it we all share the experience of the event; we know what happened and can relate to how the firefighter feels.

As a contrast: My grandfather’s brother was sent to the Finnish-Soviet winter war when he was in his late teens (about 60 years ago). I don’t think they know what happened to him, but he was found walking around in the snow without his boots. He was considered insane and put in an asylum, where he still lives as far as I know. This incident was a disgrace for his family and I think it was not until in recent years they started to go and visit him.

Also: During the recent Swedish election one of the major issues was the high sick leave rates and what to do about it. My feeling is that they are partly caused by the “burnout trend”: all talk about burnout has made it a legitimate reason to call in sick; I myself have, and I know of several other people who also have, suffered from exhaustion depression (which I think is a better term). It is looked upon as a great problem, and it certainly is, but I also think it’s a healthy sign that people feel it’s okay to admit they are “sick” although they aren’t “physically sick”.