Invalidated Faces

I am not depressed, but a lack of compassion shows in every mindless grin I'm faced with.

I am used and abused; no pills can replace a life stolen, and resold for a few thrills.

I am lost and clinging to the bone, cracked and left in the streets alone

I am haunted by a past too horrific for my eyes to witness or my mind to revisit.

I am fearful of the future we are all hurtling towards, hands up, unsecured.

I am sickened by every atrocity committed, every excuse worn like armor by those with power in shameless complicity

I am disgusted by laws that allow the innocent to starve and die in the streets while the fat are allowed to dispose of any whom they wish

I am not depressed; I am a human in existential distress. I need no mask of happiness, nor chemical intervention, only for evil to be consciously confronted.

K.B. Silver

It isn't depression to look around at the state of the world and find it upsetting; to feel empathy for others is not a disease. Depression isn't crying over the loss of a loved one, a job, or the massive loss of human life we are being exposed to as if it were some movie and not real life. It is a chemical imbalance, and these real problems can't be solved by pills.

PTSD from being attacked, a soldier exposed to the evils of the world under order, or held in abusive captivity as a child, is not remedied by pills. There may be medication to alleviate some of the symptoms, like anxiety, insomnia, and some can even help suppress the flashbacks. There are no easy fixes for these violence-related mental health problems, especially when it comes to working through the trauma. You have to work through it to get over it. I have made the most progress with W.E.T. or Writing Exposure Therapy. Every poem, memoir, short story, or chapter of my book lightens my load.