By Emily Sohn, Image: Alex Merto/The New York Times, December 9, 2021
Maimuna Majumder felt as prepared as a person could be when the Covid-19 pandemic began in early 2020. As an infectious disease epidemiologist at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital, she had been studying emerging pandemics for a decade. But this one was personal.
She lost colleagues to Covid-19 and suicide during the pandemic. Her uncle spent time in an intensive care unit in Bangladesh. During long work days, she forgot to eat for 14 hours at a time. All the while, Dr. Majumder, a Muslim woman of color who communicates publicly about the pandemic, faced attacks and threats on social media.
To avoid crumbling from the stress, she focused on her work. She turned to group chats with like-minded people for social support. She dedicated at least 15 minutes a day to taking care of herself with creative pursuits, like painting. And she embraced the development of deep bonds to the people she works with. All of those steps, she said, helped preserve her well-being.
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