Lockdown, loss and pandemic trauma | Episode 19

This 'Art of Dying Well' podcast picks up where Episode 18 left off - counting the cost of COVID19 and how it has touched our lives and communities. Lockdown may be easing but the virus is certainly not a thing of the past. Politicians turn their thoughts to re-firing the economy, restrictions are being removed and the public at large is being encouraged to use its 'common sense'. But many people are coping with grief, separation and isolation in an entirely new way. Some have been denied being at the bedside of a dying loved one or even at the graveside for a final farewell. What mark will this collective trauma leave on a generation? To look at lockdown, loss and trauma, we're joined by three excellent guests. Our first contributor, Stephen Regal, is clinical lead at the Centre for Trauma, Resilience and Growth & Veterans Service in Nottingham. Stephen has a wealth of experience when it comes to sudden acute loss. We engage in a little 'Death Chatter' with Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg, Senior Rabbi at the New North London Synagogue and a prolific writer and thinker on Judaism to hear how his Jewish community in Finchley has dealt with the challenges of COVID-19. Finally the 'Voice from the Chaplain's Chair' comes from Father James Mackay, a Catholic priest from east London. Father James set up a 24/7 chaplaincy service at the Nightingale Hospital - a huge field hospital using the ExCel conference centre building whilst in operation.