“The Final Masquerade” is a rock ballad by the band Linkin Park that implies a sense of negativity and foreboding. Interestingly, however, the instrumentals create…
In a personal essay in the Hartford Courant, 17-year old Cassandra C. recalls her legal battle when she refused to undergo chemotherapy after being diagnosed…
In 1999, artist Mathew Good decided to write a song about his friend who was admitted to a psychiatric institution. The lyrics attempt to describe…
“The Grand Optimist” is written and performed by Dallas Green, of City and Colour. The lyrics convey a sense of losing hope—feelings often described by…
Zaneta Pernicova painted this piece after her husband was diagnosed with a brain cyst that altered his mental and emotional state. Pernicova also noticed changes…
The music video for “Elastic Heart”, by Australian recording artist Sia, portrays an interpretive dance between a man and child that is meant to depict…
In her latest series of children’s books, River Speaks, author Sandy Stream conveys the emotional turmoil that children and families go through when dealing with…
The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 devastated the two cities and countless lives. Some survivors coped with their grief through art,…
Edward Hopper was an American painter famous for his depictions of people’s everyday life and struggles. His most famous painting, Nighthawks, depicts people sitting at a…
Lesley Oldaker uses bleak and gloomy shades of grey in her paintings, a particularly famous of which is entitled “Passing Through.” The paintings are often filled with…
“Darkness is a harsh term, don’t you think, and yet it dominates the things I see” is a line from Roll Away Your Stone by…
In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush enacted a policy allowing faith-based organizations to receive government grants to provide social services. America’s Crisis Pregnancy Centers…
Anne Sexton (1928-1974) was an American poet known for her “confessional verse”—a very personal style of poetry. She is known to have suffered from several…
The defendant entered the courtroom, giving a thumbs-up to the judges and clapping mockingly at the spectators watching from a glass-walled gallery. His name: Ratko…
Broken is a song by American rock band Seether that captures the pain of coping with loneliness. The lyrics describe the importance of a partner for…
In “Even My Dad Does Sometimes”, Ed Sheeran encourages those who feel sad and depressed to share those feelings with others, as that is the…
The emotional connection between a memory and an event can be powerful. A child rescued from a house fire or a soldier returning from Afghanistan…
The suicide of a celebrity comes as a shock to fans. In the wake of Robin Williams’ death, there was an outpouring of grief. But…
In 2006, lead vocalist and songwriter for Sanctus Real, Matt Hammitt captured the anxiety he felt when dealing with his own traumatic memories in the…
Nyassa Navidzadeh, a psychiatrist from Montreal, Canada, spent several months overseas, providing aid to the victims of the Ebola outbreak. Based in Foya, Liberia, she…
