Power of the Pandemic on Mental Health: Do you have Telecommuting Psychosis?

Angela A
4 min readOct 20, 2022

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Dr. Frieda Wiley explores the drastic impact that the pandemic imposed on remote employees and their mental health in her research-based and relatable book release.

When the pandemic sent most of the working population home to adapt to remote employment, many became, admittedly, quite comfortable in pajamas. In fact, when employers began requesting hybrid or full-time return to their businesses, employees pushed back. Some also experienced varying degrees of anxiety and faced other mental health challenges as a result of their new home-based environment. Dr. Frieda Wiley dives into this phenomenon and the overall effects that telecommuting continues to have on mental health, in her latest science-backed book entitled ““Telecommuting Psychosis: From Surviving to Thriving While Working in Your Pajama Pants available on Amazon.”

Take a closer look at Dr. Wiley’s journey, strategy, and relatable release.

Shared Dilemma

When Dr. Wiley first began telecommuting as a hybrid employee, back in 2010, the transition was not as seamless as it is widely accommodated since the pandemic. However, after going 100% remote in 2012, she realized she needed more resources to do her best work. At the time, there were very few books and little research on how telecommuting affects mental health. As the lone telecommuter in her department for more than a year, Dr. Wiley had little support within both her company and personal life. As a result, she began researching answers and trying to craft her own solutions for the gaps that this phenomenon left unfilled and unanswered.

“If we were all meant to travel the same paths, we’d all have the same pair of shoes.” – Dr. Wiley

Dr. Wiley is a public speaker, author, journalist, award-winning writer, pharmacist, and telecommuter for more than a decade. She spent eight years researching the effects of working from home on mental health and how to protect it. These findings are now uncovered in her new book, “Telecommuting Psychosis: From Surviving to Thriving While Working in Your Pajama Pants” available on Amazon.

“I wrote this book, not only as a form of therapy and self-validation, but more importantly, to let other people know they are not alone and to give them hope. It’s science-backed with recent research, but also written in plain language so that anybody can understand it.”- Dr. Wiley

Research, Writing & Relating

Dr. Wiley may be well known as a writer for O, The Oprah Magazine, WebMD, Costco Connection, The History Network, The National Institutes of Health (NIH), and US News along with numerous pharmaceutical companies, universities, and associations, yet her keen eye for diving into the common interest and backing her findings by research to create digestible understanding to the public is most highly regarded among these top-tier news outlets.
Even so, life plans don’t always stay on path toward the goal, but oftentimes have a grander purpose. While Dr. Wiley holds undergraduate degrees in biochemistry and Spanish, after a brief career as an aerospace chemist — as a break between degrees — she earned her doctorate in pharmacy with the hopes of working in the pharmaceutical industry as a researcher.

“Life threw me a curveball when a family situation caused me to walk away from a government fellowship and practice as a pharmacist instead.
I began freelance writing shortly after I began practicing and made the full leap into contract medical writing.” — Dr. Wiley

In fact, the journey in developing this book afforded her much more clarity than the research itself. Dr. Wiley discovered her own passion and continues to receive positive feedback from her findings, strategies, and perspective.

“It validated so much of what I have experienced regarding time management, perceptions, healthy practices, and self-awareness. It is thoughtful and helpful without being preachy because you ground it in personal experience. I really liked reading about ideas to incorporate into the way I approach the way I work from my home office. It also made me think about my workspace very critically.” — Anonymous

Passion to Performance

Dr. Wiley’s vast knowledge and ability to connect and consult led to her founding Medvon Media and Consulting, LLC, a firm that offers pharmaceutical consulting, strategic planning, medical writing, and speaking/training. In the summer of 2022, she also launched Stories Unleashed Publishing LLC, which publishes books and offers public speaking services.

“Most medical writers specialize in either plain language or technical/scientific writing. I’m ‘bilingual’ because I do both. In addition, I draw from my unique experiences in patient care, project management, the pharmaceutical industry, C-suite interactions, and public speaking to tailor information to my target audience.” — Dr. Wiley

As a pharmacist who has worked from home for more than a decade in both hybrid and fully- remote settings, Dr. Wiley has an intimate understanding of the challenges that telecommuters face.

“I have spent eight years researching the secrets to mental health and thriving in the workplace. I provide corporations, conferences, and the like with resources and training on how to ensure their remote and hybrid workers can thrive in a remote environment in terms of productivity, without compromising their health and wellbeing (mental, emotional, and physical).” — Dr. Wiley

Website & Social Media

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