Pushkin.
Welcome to the first of some special episodes of the Happiness Lab.
It felt like the dirty news half my lung capacity.
The now global spread of coronavirus is affecting all of us.
Keep a safe distance with other people.
Stay at home.
This disease has brought a whole host of medical, economic, and political problems.
But it's also given us a ton of uncertainty and anxiety,
which are beginning to have an enormous negative impact on our well-being.
But whenever I'm confused or fearful,
I always remember that looking for answers in evidence-based science is the best thing to do.
And that's why I'm hoping this podcast can help.
For those of you that haven't listened before, I'm Dr.
Laurie Santos.
I'm a professor of psychology at Yale University, where I also live on campus with students.
In the past two weeks, University life as I know it has been totally upended.
We've halted research in classes and have told our students that they can't come back from spring break.
They just have to leave all their stuff where it is and complete their studies online.
The whole process has been stressful, scary, and really sad.
My staff and I spent the last week dealing with problem after problem,