Social Issues

Starving For Empathy

We as people are starved, depraved of empathy these days. There is a desperate need for connection in this world. We need casual conversation and deep conversation. It is a desert out there. Honestly, the loneliness epidemic has now become a loneliness pandemic that is rivaling Covid. The loneliness pandemic is leading to drug use and abuse, alcoholism, depression, and thoughts of suicide.

I know—it is hard out there for… Read More >>

2nd Place Winner of the MICDS Magazine’s Empathy Through Art Competition – Hannah Keener, 2019

Let’s Talk Depression

How is it that depression is so pervasive, yet we never talk about it? In fact, depression is the leading cause of disability in the United States among people ages 15-44, and sadly two-thirds of people with depression do not actively seek or receive proper treatment. Depression, much like suicide or abortion, still carries so much stigma, but we need to destigmatize it and start talking about it.

For those who personally deal with depression, one of the problems is that they do not care to admit to others that they have succumbed to depression, it makes the depressed person feel like she is admitting defeat. Opening up about being depressed may feel like an admission that you are not as tough as the other people that are also dealing with a lot of challenges in their life. So consequently, people seldom talk about depression. Depressed individuals opt out of sharing their depressive episodes with their friends and family. Depressed individuals often keep the sadness to themselves, because admitting that depression took over in their life is akin admitting that they are weak…and many people are too proud to make that kind of admission. Read More >>