@javeedsukhera
Physician. Educator. #MedEd Scientist. Chair/Chief of Psychiatry, Institute of Living/Hartford Hospital. Associate Clinical Professor at Yale. Associate Professor at UConn. Views personal. 🇨🇦 in 🇺🇸.
Before I even get out of bed, the world trembles with the echoes of war. My heart aches for those caught in violence, and for children inheriting an uncertain future. Our lives have become a constant practice of holding heartbreak in one hand and responsibility in the other.
We Canadians bleed red. We celebrate being human.
Hockey is not just a game for us. It is a shared language. A metaphor for a dignified life.
Tough losses sting harder. Because hockey matters.
But we always lace up again.
Chin up, eyes forward. Feet on the ground, heart in hand.
Dear friends,
For much of my life I have been writing in the margins. Some platforms have been a home for shorter reflections, but some stories need room to breathe. If you have been here for the small posts, thank you. If you want the long reads, I would love to have you.
drsukhera.substack.com
Over the past few days I’ve been sitting with the news and my heart is heavy in ways that feel all too familiar. Public tragedy has a way of reopening older wounds. To everyone in Tumbler Ridge, I’m holding space for your grief and for whatever hope you may find.
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
Every time I think “this feels dystopian,” life responds with an even more dystopian sequel that nobody asked for.
When someone chooses willful ignorance and shares social media posts that dehumanize entire groups of people, a trust between us becomes broken
We can disagree and still be honest and compassionate. What I will not accept are recycled tropes, distorted “facts,” and prejudice dressed up as debate.
The best way to assess someone’s credibility is to see how they handle critique. Those who are brittle and crumble into defensive pieces are generally not reliable nor trustworthy.
Kindness. Respect. Patience. Grace.
Character matters more than anything, especially when the world feels like it’s on fire.
Take a breath.
Don’t be a jerk.
When criticism gives way to fear and stereotypes, it ceases to be about truth and becomes a mirror of our own insecurity. The urge to control those who think differently is never about conviction—it is about the fear of being seen, and the refusal to understand what that reflection might reveal.
I am receiving the award from Dr Javeed Sukhera, both of us are formally dressed
A panel discussion with 3 individuals (Laura Delano, David Mintz, and me), and I am in the middle of saying something and moving my arm, and David is looking at me
I was at the Institute of Living (Hartford, CT) for the Bicentennial Lectureship award & the Radical Recovery symposium yesterday & today, and I am so impressed by the excellence of care and research at IOL and the culture of dialogue and openness that @javeedsukhera.bsky.social has facilitated!
Rage baiting wins clicks, not change.
There’s real suffering out there, and shouting across divides won’t heal it.
We need to get serious about listening, collaborating, and finding constructive solutions beyond partisan noise.
Your humanity is not defined by your passport.
Borders may divide land, but they should never dictate worth.
We should never fear saying that every child deserves to live. That every family deserves safety. That every human being deserves dignity and the chance to hope. These basic truths should not be controversial. Compassion should never require a disclaimer.
The internet rewards outrage and vanity, not depth or humanity. Do not mistake algorithms for community or metrics for meaning. Real life is full of messy conversations and learning how to agree to disagree.
Selective empathy is moral blindness. It’s when compassion depends on who suffers, outrage on who’s harmed, and silence on who speaks. True empathy isn’t agreement, it’s feeling another’s pain even when it challenges your comfort or loyalty.
Two mothers cry beneath the same sun,
The ground drinks salt from both their tears,
Grief travels like smoke,
Crossing fences and languages,
Finding lungs that did not light the fire.
One of the most painful aspects of the last few years is not just the violence…
but how easily empathy has withered in its shadow.
Too many have come to believe that acknowledging another’s pain somehow erases their own.
Callous indifference has proliferated like a virus…
Would I find,
in that relentless beating,
in that deep drawn breath,
the same proof I carry,
that we are both tethered
to the same air,
the same fragile fire,
whether we want to or not?
Families do not need to be dragged into political circuses or fed misinformation dressed up as science. They need honesty. They need research that brings clarity, treatments that bring relief, and support that brings dignity. Not partisan political theatre.
Hope in hard times isn’t wishful thinking. It’s the choice to act with purpose when so much feels out of our control.
Hope gives us agency to author our story instead of letting circumstances write it.
Hope means modeling clarity and intention, showing others that their choices matter too.
Free speech means free for everyone—not just those who think or look like you. If you want to fire or dox people for their views, you’re not a free speech advocate, you’re a hypocrite.
Choose your words carefully. Are you making the world safer or more violent and dangerous?
Polarization grows when we treat our own views as inherently good and others’ as inherently bad.
This mindset erases complexity, shuts down dialogue, and deepens divides.
In healthcare, trust is sacred. Critique makes us better. But baseless or partisan attacks corrode trust and strike at the covenant between medicine and society. Illness and healing aren’t partisan. Our work is for the greater good, and we must protect that trust with vigilance.
When people fear your power, they’ll try to tear you down. The answer isn’t to shrink. It’s to stand taller, trust your voice, and keep speaking.
There is agency in refusing to be flattened into a caricature. There is power in choosing depth over distraction. And there is freedom in staying rooted in our humanity, even when the world around us tries to strip it away.
School shootings are not a mental health issue. They are a gun issue. As a child psychiatrist, I see kids struggle every day—but their struggles don’t put AR-15s in classrooms. #GunReformNow
Hyperpolarization destroys trust, silences nuance, and fuels division.
Dialogue builds bridges, restores humanity, and paves the way for real progress.
A healthy society depends not on louder voices, but on deeper conversations.
The most important thing we can do is love deeply and let ourselves be loved without conditions. Love brings people together and creates a community where we can give and receive space, kindness, and understanding.
The keepers of the lie fear the lantern’s light. So they chip at its frame, dim its glow, and let the darkness swallow it whole.
The world needs your fire. Just make sure you’re not burning yourself to keep others warm.
