Sheena Vasani

Writer, activist, seeker, and caregiver to a warrior of a sweet mom fighting Parkinson's Disease. Turning pain into purpose. Compassion’s my why.

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

My colleague was childhood best friends with Alex Pretti, and she wrote a beautiful post about him that puts a deeply human face on the loss. I’m grateful to her for sharing it, and inspired by her bravery in transforming trauma into something meaningful.

https://t.co/WZFRYbPs7L

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

Wael just passed…

“A family is facing an unimaginable challenge as their father, the primary #caregiver for Wael, was locked up in #ICE prison. Wael’s health depends on constant care, and now they’re struggling to cover medical and living expenses.”

https://t.co/vZk4sjVb6O

[Know Your Rights Camp @yourrightscamp]

Today in Minneapolis, federal agents shot and killed a 37-year-old man, Alex Jeffrey Pretti, a U.S. citizen, a registered nurse and ICU caregiver, someone with no criminal record, and who possessed a legal gun permit.

link: https://t.co/ZWBonnIY8Z

[Aiken Dao @AikenDao]

Watching Alex Pretti – an ICU nurse, a VA caregiver – get pepper-sprayed, swarmed and then shot to death by masked federal agents in the middle of a US city is sickening.
This is state violence, not “public safety”.
We must not look away.
#AlexPretti #Minneapolis #ICERaids #PoliceBrutality

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

"#Dementia caregivers mourn the loss of the person they once knew while living with their physical presence. The concept of ambiguous loss encompasses grief relating to experiences of loss that aren't clearly defined and do not have an endpoint."

https://t.co/T8oc0t2Q37

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

“Letting go of who her mother used to be is taking its toll. ‘I have moments where I break down and cry. The worst are moments when I still need a mom. I have a problem I’m going through, and I want to share, and I can’t.’” https://t.co/owB9omrhVJ

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

@DrJessTaylor I agree, but unsure about the conclusion. Many academic fields —from psychology to biology— have historically been misused to control women and minorities. That doesn’t negate the value of the disciplines themselves; it highlights the need for greater representation I feel?

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

My dear friend Amrita's first piece for @nytimes ❤️

[DealBook @dealbook]

In the weekend edition of the DealBook email: Why even basic airline seats keep getting more premium. Plus, @jtes talks with @tyhunny, the founder of Outdoor Voices, about returning to the athleisure brand after being ousted https://t.co/tjwcIy2vsY

[Dr. Ezzideen @ezzingaza]

I am a doctor.
And I cannot save a child.

There: I have said it.

What is a doctor, if not a liar with trembling hands?
What is medicine, if not a prayer whispered into the dark, hoping something, anything, will answer?

Four months ago, the child fell ill.
His name is Qasem.
I say “child,” but I mean something more: I mean a flicker of grace in a world that has spat on grace, trampled it beneath tanks, suffocated it beneath bureaucratic signatures and steel walls.

Two years ago, a bomb fell at four in the morning.
A single bomb: that was all it took to erase seventy-four names from the Book of the Living. My family, every last one of them, turned to silence in the span of a breath.
But Qasem lived.
He and his mother crawled out from under the ruins, not because of skill or science, but because of some strange divine arithmetic I still do not understand.
Surely the universe would not be so precise in its cruelty as to spare a mother’s life only so she could outlive all four of her children, and watch the last one vanish by inches.

Qasem bruises now.
Not from injury, but from breath, from pressure, from life.
His gums bleed. His tiny hands shake.
His blood turns against him in slow, merciless rebellion.
They call it Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura.
An elegant name, too elegant for something so wretched.

And I, his doctor, his cousin, his useless, weeping doctor, have nothing for him.
No treatment. No transfusion. No hospital bed.
Only forms, permits, border checkpoints, and a phone that does not ring.

We applied for his transfer.
They marked his file “Urgent”: Category A.
But no one comes.

Meanwhile, the boy lies in a tent.

Yes: a tent.
There is sand in his hair. Insects at his feet.
He no longer cries the way children cry.
He cries like a man: quiet, long, accepting.
His eyes are not angry.
They are tired.

Each morning, I go to him, like a priest visiting a parishioner.
I kneel at his bedside, not to heal, but to witness.
To bear the unbearable truth: That a world which allows this is not a world that loves children.
That I am not a doctor, but a mourner-in-waiting.
That Gaza is not a place, but a diagnosis.

Qasem is not alone.
There are over eleven thousand patients in Gaza: their names neatly stacked in files, their diagnoses typed in black ink, waiting on desks that do not move.
More than five thousand of them have cancer.
They do not ask for mercy, only for permission.
They wait for chemotherapy, for radiation, for one open gate.
And I, the man with the stethoscope and the shaking hands, cannot save even one.

The death is not sudden.
It comes in paper cuts, in stamps, in silences.
It comes wrapped in the civility of diplomacy and the white lies of delay.

No: this is not war.
This is accounting.

And every day we wait, one more number is subtracted from the future.

#GazaGenocide

[Fan Ms Rachel At Songs @msrachelforlitt]

Daily begging for people to say something about Gaza #FreePalestine

[The Spectator @spectator]

'This red flag mania can get out of control': Alain de Botton on mental health buzzwords, AI therapy and cultural Christianity

Alain de Botton is an author and psychotherapist who has spent the past few decades writing about how to deal with difficult times in life. His books include The School of Life, The Course of Love and A Therapeutic Journey, which have all been No. 1 bestsellers.

On this episode, Natasha Feroze and Alain de Botton discuss good and bad therapy, how to have healthy political debates, whether the West has lost religion at its peril and the worst mental health tropes of the modern era. @TheSchoolOfLife @NatashaFeroze

00:42 What makes a good psychotherapist?
04:25 Balancing emotional exploration and stoicism
07:44 The personal toll of being a psychotherapist
09:45 How to have healthy political conversations
14:29 Why people sabotage their own success
18:15 Childhood's invisible impact on adult relationships
22:35 Why extroverts fear being alone
27:20 What atheists can learn from religion
32:39 Mental health dogma and toxic positivity
36:54 The art of writing

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

@countrycaravan Ha, love it! Also, miss you, Natalie, and baby. Just starting to use social / actually *be* social more again. Will text to hang soon. xoxo

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

"[Parkinson's] the fastest-growing neurodegenerative disease...it's also the 13th-leading cause of death in the US. One factor may be the way we've come to live. “Chemicals in our food, water and air have created this largely man-made disease,” two experts write."

[Nicholas Kristof @NickKristof]

Once rare, Parkinson's disease is now the fastest growing neurodegenerative disease, with a new case diagnosed every 6 minutes in the US. Why? I argue that it's lax regulation of toxic chemicals, from pesticides to those used in dry cleaning. Read: https://t.co/Rg0HVx32Ju

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

"There are powers that want me to hate myself...What’s rebellious is recognizing people can take away your rights, but not your joy. Humor is resistance: you’re oppressing me? Thanks for the comedic material. You’re keeping me employed.” #alokmenon 🌈 ❤️

https://t.co/nXKEdroAJ7

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

@TheOnion I snorted

[The Onion @TheOnion]

Free-Spirited Man Informed It Time To Grow Up And Stop Being Happy https://t.co/7iqlMJIDam

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

@LORWEN108 Are there studies on how Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s research applies to minorities whose ancestors endured colonialism or slavery? My parents shared harrowing stories about colonial times, and I've long wondered about the intergenerational effects on #SouthAsian diasporas

[Sheena Vasani @SheenaVasani]

Are there studies on how Dr. Bessel van der Kolk’s research applies to minorities whose ancestors endured colonialism or slavery? My parents shared harrowing stories about colonial times, and I've long wondered about the intergenerational effects on #SouthAsian diasporas

[Lorwen Harris Nagle, PhD @LORWEN108]

Dr. Bessel van der Kolk's research revealed something profound:

"The body keeps the score" not just of your trauma, but your ancestors' trauma too.

Your nervous system is wired for threats that happened decades before you were born.

[Fan Ms Rachel At Songs @msrachelforlitt]

I’ve been deeply moved by your compassion, strength, and love. Thank you. 🙏💙

Please help by tagging members of Congress, leaders, and celebrities in the comments and sharing this video.

There’s a letter that members of Congress can sign to help get baby formula, food, and humanitarian aid into Gaza. We have to do everything we can to help.

#FreePalestine #Gaza

[Elizabeth Warren @SenWarren]

BREAKING: 1 in 4 nursing homes say they will be forced to close if Republicans pass Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill.

No grandma should be kicked out of her nursing home so that Mark Zuckerberg can buy another Hawaiian island.