Getting Through the Pandemic Stronger

Suicide prevention advocate Dennis Gillan on post-traumatic growth and the value of relationships

Making the effort to stay connected with friends and loved ones is well worth it, especially through isolating times. Brian A Jackson/Shutterstock

In late 2019, Dennis Gillan gave a TEDx talk about the loneliness epidemic, and right before February 2020, it was published online.

“It was so bizarre,” said Gillan, a public speaker, suicide prevention advocate, and executive director of the Half A Sorrow Foundation, as in the Swedish proverb he likes to share: “A shared joy is a double joy, shared sorrow is half a sorrow.”