The Pulse Folgen

The death of a loved one can be shattering — especially when it's unexpected. It destroys our feeling of safety, warps our sense of reality, and often leaves us feeling lost ... unsure if we'll ever come out on the other side. It's an experience just about everyone goes through at some point in their lives, and yet it can feel profoundly lonely. There's no linear logic or prescribed progression; grief advances stubbornly at its own pace. The wounds can feel both fresh and ancient, stifling and endless, like it's a connection to our loved ones — and a wall that we can never break through. And yet, every day, people do survive their grief — they live with it and through it, and emerge on the other side. On this episode, we hear stories of grief and healing. A mother whose son was murdered at the Sandy Hook shooting in 2012 describes how her grief has changed over the past decade. We will also explore what researchers have learned about grief in the wake of the pandemic — what some have called a "shadow pandemic" of loss. And we'll meet a researcher who is trying to compile the best information to help people who are dealing with grief.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Sleep — we all need it, but most people aren't getting enough of it. Ideally, we spend about a third of our lives asleep. When we're well rested, we feel like we can take on the world. But when we're not, we find ourselves exhausted, cranky, moody, forgetful ... and our overall health takes a hit. Clearly, sleep is important. The question is — why? What happens when we sleep? What makes it such an important part of our survival? And what's stopping us from getting our best rest? On this episode, we look at the anatomy of sleep — why it matters, how we get our best sleep, and what happens when we don't. We hear stories about what happened to one physician when long COVID brought her sleeplessness to a crisis level, why one physical therapist says we're all sleeping wrong, and a look inside our sleeping brains.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

The process of therapy can sometimes seem a bit opaque. What exactly happens in therapy? How does it work? And which approach is right for which issues? On this episode, we get inside the heads of therapists to find out how they ply their craft, and what it takes to really feel better. We hear stories about what happened when a city took a bold step toward providing free, virtual mental health services to its residents. Also: what happens when politics and therapy collide; how Freud's brainchild — psychoanalysis — is still relevant; and what it's like to grow up as the child of two shrinks.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy