Depressing

For 55 Percent Of Americans, 2020 Has Been “A Personal Financial Disaster”

One of the big reasons why so many Americans are angry about the size of the “stimulus payments” in the COVID relief bill that Congress just passed is because this year has truly been a “financial disaster” for millions upon millions of people.  More Americans than ever before are just barely scraping by from month to month, and $600 is just not going to go very far.  In 2020, small businesses have been getting slaughtered by the thousands, millions of Americans are in imminent danger of being evicted from their homes, and more than 70 million new claims for unemployment benefits have been filed since the COVID pandemic first started.  The U.S. has plunged into a brutal economic depression, and most of the country is desperately hoping that the federal government will do more to bail them out. (Read More...)

“I Cry When I Think Back How Things Used To Be” – What In the World Has Happened To The America We Grew Up In?

Earlier today, my attention was directed to a thread on an Internet discussion forum that lamented how much America had changed over the years.  I don’t know exactly why, but the posts on that thread really touched me.  Those of us that are old enough to remember what America was like before the Internet grew up in a much simpler time.  Yes, we didn’t have all of the luxuries that we take for granted in 2019, but we found joy in the simple things and people were generally much happier.  Today, we seemingly have so much going for us, and yet people are lonelier, more disconnected and more depressed than ever before.  The suicide rate in the United States is up 34 percent since the year 2000, approximately 40 million American adults have an anxiety disorder, and overdosing on drugs is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50.  Clearly our society is not heading in the right direction. (Read More...)

62 Percent Of All U.S. Jobs Do Not Pay Enough To Support A Middle Class Life

We just got more evidence that the middle class in America is rapidly disappearing.  According to a shocking new study that was just released, 62 percent of all jobs in the United States do not pay enough to support a middle class life.  That means that “the American Dream” is truly out of reach for most of the country at this point.  Today, Americans are working harder than ever but the cost of living continues to rise much faster than our paychecks are increasing.  Earlier this month, I went and looked at the latest numbers from the Social Security Administration, and I discovered that 50 percent of all American workers make less than $30,533 a year.  But that is just above poverty level.  In fact, the federal poverty level for a family of five is currently $29,420.  Most families are just barely scraping by from month to month, and most U.S. workers are just one major setback away from falling out of the middle class. (Read More...)

Completely Alone And Utterly Depressed

Do you ever feel like you have been completely abandoned by the world?  Do you struggle with feelings of loneliness, isolation and depression?  If so, you are far from alone.  Thanks to technology Americans are more isolated than they have ever been before, and as you will see below, this is really starting to cause a major national crisis.  Humans were designed to be social creatures, and researchers have found that a lack of interaction with others can cause major mental, emotional and social problems.  Not only that, it can also lead to premature death.  We actually have a need to love others and to be loved by them, and if those needs are not met the consequences can be quite dramatic. (Read More...)

The ‘Experts’ Tell Us That Christmas Is The Most Depressing Time Of The Year – Do You Agree?

holiday-season-public-domainFor many people, the holiday season is the most dreaded time of the year. But does it have to be that way? The holidays can be a real pressure point because they tend to magnify our problems. If you are a very busy person, it is likely that you are even busier and more stressed for time during December. If your family relationships are strained, this time of the year can be really tough because there is pressure to interact with family. Other people that feel a deep sense of loneliness often find that it becomes even deeper and more intense around Christmas. And more than anything else, so many people feel like they are missing out on something because their holidays never seem to match up with the glittering ideal that is constantly portrayed in the movies and on television. We are a deeply unhappy nation anyway, but this time of the year just seems to make it even worse. (Read More...)

Stories Of Despair From The Forgotten People That The U.S. Economy Has Left Behind

Forgotten - Public DomainThere is so much economic despair in our country today, but if you have a good job and if you live in a good neighborhood you might not ever encounter it.  There really are “two Americas” in 2016, and they are getting farther and farther apart with each passing year.  On the one hand, you have lots of people smiling in New York City these days because of the stock market boom, and property values have soared to ridiculous levels in San Francisco because of the tech bubble.  But in between the two coasts there are vast stretches of forgotten people that the U.S. economy has left behind.  In this article I am going to share some of their stories with you. (Read More...)

Unhappy America: Will The United States Collapse Due To An Internal Societal Meltdown?

American Flag Blowing In The Wind - Public DomainAre we witnessing the beginning of the end for the United States of America?  All great nations eventually fall, and the United States is not going to be any exception.  Many of those that write about the decline of our once great country tend to focus on external threats, and there are certainly many that could be talked about.  But perhaps even more ominous is the internal societal meltdown that we see happening all around us.  According to Real Clear Politics, recent surveys show that 67 percent of Americans believe that the country is on the wrong track, and only 26 percent of Americans believe that it is headed in the right direction.  So even though we are tremendously divided as to what the solutions are, the vast majority of us can see that something is deeply, deeply wrong with America. (Read More...)

The Most Depressing Time Of The Year In The Most Depressed Nation On The Planet

Christmas Street - Public DomainDid you know that the rate of suicide is highest during this time of the year and that 45 percent of all Americans dread the Christmas season?  We are constantly being told that Christmas is the happiest time of the year, but mental health professionals tell us that the exact opposite is true.  For large numbers of Americans, the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is filled with stress, anxiety, loneliness and family squabbles.  And for most people, the reality of the holidays never even comes close to matching up with the glittering ideal portrayed in movies and on television.  As a result, depression tends to spike during the month of December.  And of course Americans are quite depressed most of the time anyway.  In fact, one out of every ten Americans is on an antidepressant as you read this article.  No other nation in the world even approaches that level.  So right now we are in the midst of the most depressing time of the year in the most depressed nation on the entire planet.  What is wrong with this picture? (Read More...)