A mental health crisis

My wife  and I were both up in the night,, wringing our hands over the state of the world. things are, in fact, quite a mess. The Trump administration is creating chaos as it bounces from one act of “all’s what you got to do is…” to another. What I am seeing is a nation in the midst of a collective mental health crisis.

Our mythology has led us to think the United States is the greatest place to live, largely because it was the only world power to avoid direct impact from World War I or II. The United States has the highest levels of economic inequity, highest rate of incarceration, and the most expensive health care system, (with only marginal benefits( in the world. The (largely straight, white) shrinking middle class is starting to realize the same disenfranchisement that people of color, immigrants, queer people, people with mental health issues, and disabling conditions have been experiencing for generations. We need to acknowledge this loss and welcome these injured people into the reality so many of us live. The loss of feelings of entitlement is a real loss. We need to help those people grieve their losses and understand that the answer is not to simply demonize people you do not understand or to silence voices that tell you things you are not ready to hear.

We can do this, if we want to.