Franco ‘bifo’ Berardi would say that depression, suicide and mass murder are all linked to wealth/opportunity inequality. 1/6 of the US is on antidepressants, suicide is at a record high (especially for young adults and white males) and we frequently have mass shootings. The mass murderers are nearly 100% males. They have been told their whole lives to pull themselves up by their bootstraps and that talking about your circumstances is a victim mentality, so they do what they’ve been told and take action against the people they perceive to be in their way (that’s where Trump’s rhetoric comes in) or against the people who wouldn’t pay attention to them. They have not known hope for a long time and they have rationalized that their anger is justified, rather than kill themselves alone, they take action, Berardi says they consider their actions heroic.

If this scenario is true, forms of gun control are bandaids, and more heavily policing areas contributes to the isolation which already exists.

A positive working solution is to ask that people like Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump pay their taxes and use that money to invest in communities. Give people jobs to give their own communities clean energy, independent of dirty energy. Build more affordable housing to lower the cost of living so that more community programs can get off the ground.

The depression you feel is related to actual problems in the world. While prayer and/or therapy may help you get through the day, it is not changing the circumstances which are causing your depression. We need to increase opportunities, allow more access to the wealth which is being created.

Everyone is feeling it, you’re not alone.