The Rush to Unplug
In the Wall Street Journal this weekend, January 10 and 11, I read an article called “The Rush to Unplug.” It described something many people recognize immediately. A sense of being overwhelmed. Always reachable. Always behind.
For many people, that feeling shows up in ordinary ways. Email that never quite gets caught up. Messages waiting for a response. News and information coming faster than anyone can absorb. Even when nothing urgent is happening, it can feel like there is always something unfinished.
That kind of stress has become common enough that we treat it as normal. For many people, it is manageable. For others, over time, it is not. Depression, anxiety, and exhaustion can build to the point where even simple or unskilled work becomes impossible.
In my work as a Social Security disability lawyer, I have represented people who have survived war trauma and ethnic cleansing, including individuals who lived through the Pol Pot regime, the Iran-Iraq war, and the Bosnia War. I have also represented people whose lives were shaped by childhood trauma, personal trauma, or lifelong depression and anxiety.
Those experiences are not the same as being overwhelmed by email or too much information. They are different in kind, not just degree. They can fundamentally impair a person’s ability to function, concentrate, relate to others, or sustain work of any kind.
The point is not to compare suffering, or to suggest that everyday stress should be dismissed. It is simply to be honest about what Social Security disability actually addresses. Disability, in that context, is about functional capacity. Whether someone can reliably show up, stay on task, and perform even basic work on a sustained basis.
The article did not present unplugging as a cure. It pointed instead to a desire for quiet and space. For me, that sometimes means getting out to Chicago’s lakefront and standing there, looking out over what feels like an endless sea. It creates a sense of scale. A reminder that not everything requires an immediate response. For others, it may be pausing and breathing. Sitting quietly. Meditating or reconnecting with a spiritual practice that once mattered and got pushed aside. These are not fixes. They do not erase trauma or illness. But they can offer moments of grounding and steadiness in a noisy world.
Unplugging, in this sense, is not about rejecting technology or escaping life. It is about creating space to return to oneself, even briefly.
Where someone falls on that spectrum matters greatly in the context of Social Security disability. But regardless of where a person lands, the question remains what helps them find a little quiet, a little grounding, and a little room to breathe, whatever they are carrying.
If you or someone you know has questions about Social Security Disability benefits, please feel free to reach out. We’re here to help.
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