67
20 14 2015 2016 2017 2018
2020
59 %
57 %
56 %
2021
APRIL
2020
2019
Working moms
fight back
P.70
Migrant
mothers commune
P.78
Farmers lead
a revolution
P.84
Housing that
works for all
P.92
Feeding communities
P.94
Curbing
domestic violence
P.100
In times of
crisis, women
carry the weight.
Fortitude comes
in many forms
BY JAQUIRA DÍAZ
Several yearS ago, when I waS In
my mid-20s, after suffering from major
depressive disorder and anxiety for
most of my life, I found myself at the
emergency room during an episode of
substance- induced psychosis. My father
and stepmother found me, at the very
beginning of the episode, having para-
noid delusions. Someone had tried to
poison me and now they were coming,
I told them. “Do not answer the door.”
Somehow, I listened when they said
I needed to see a doctor. “We’ll be with
you the whole time,” my father said. At
the hospital, after checking my vitals
and asking me to describe what was
wrong, the triage nurse talked to my
father. He explained my history with de-
pression, my mother’s schizophrenia. I
was given an emergency bed.
A psychiatrist—a tall, middle-aged
blind man— approached with his guide
dog. He asked questions while my father
and stepmother watched, worried,
nervous. “When was the last time you
slept? Do you ever feel disconnected
from yourself, or from reality? Do you
hear voices?”
SPECIAL REPORT
WOMEN and the PANDEMIC
