By Thomas Cangelosi, Image: Hartford Courant, Hartford Courant, March 5, 2022
According to a recent NBC News poll, when asked about America’s present direction, the top answers were “downhill,” “divisive,” “negative,” “struggling,” “lost,” and “bad.” Further, in the face of this dark outlook, according to the poll, the public’s interest in the upcoming midterm elections is down. In other words, many feel alienated, powerless, hopeless or apathetic about changing the course of our nation’s downhill slide into the future.
As someone who has suffered from depression, I recognize in the nation’s gloomy outlook several characteristic symptoms of my illness, in particular a sense of hopelessness, powerlessness, anger, and apathy.
Freud described depression as anger turned inward. In other words, anger we might feel toward others is, ironically, turned inward against ourselves, often making us feel like victims of injustice, or conversely, like pathetic losers.
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