Letters: how depression hides itself and denigrating with ‘Democrat’

Lying through pain

Depression troubles many, and we tend to look down on those suffering without being open to them. It can be hard to comprehend something so complex that you haven’t experienced.

Some say that discussing depression will encourage dwelling on it and wallowing in self-pity, but this is untrue. Depression isn’t a quirk or a trend, nor is it something you can “snap out of.” It’s a treatable mental condition. Nobody who has it wants it or thinks it’s a way to get out of doing things.

I can tell you that being public about something so dark is hard. I excelled at hiding the pain and apathy I was going through. I painted an image of a confident, capable girl whom my friends and family believed.

This false portrait should scare you. If I was able to pretend to be someone else for that long, then you have no idea what haunts the ones you love.

Kylie Aiken

Blue Springs

It’s Democratic

We all know that Republicans are taught in Republican School to never, ever say “Democratic Party,” “Democratic senator” or anything like that.

The incorrect and insulting usage of “Democrat” as an adjective goes back a century or so but was popularized by Joseph McCarthy and latched onto by Bob Dole and most Republicans these days. I expect better from journalists. I’ve seen The Star misuse “Democrat” as an adjective about a dozen times recently.

Please, please, please, let the Republicans use their incorrect and denigrating version, but tell your writers and editors that it’s the “Democratic Party.”

Scott Gregory

Roeland Park