Trans people are under attack in America today, often through harassment, often through direct,

sometimes fatal violence, and trans people are under attack through legislation in states and

on the federal level, legislation having to do with health care, education, public accommodations,

free speech. It's a difficult time to be a trans person,

and that's reflected in the mental health statistics

among people who identify as trans.

According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI,

transgender individuals are nearly four times

as likely as cisgender people to experience a mental health condition.

Today, on the show, someone who is trans, who experiences mental health conditions,

and who has some insight on what it's like to live in America today.

It's DePresh Mode. I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here.

Music I'm John Moe. I'm glad you're here. Parker Malloy is an independent journalist and media critic based in Chicago.

She's worked for Media Matters for America, written for the advocate, has a large social media following,

and these days she writes a

substact newsletter called The Present Age, which features cultural commentary and media criticism.

Parker is a trans woman. She's also a person who has dealt with major depressive disorder

and anxiety and panic disorder dating back to childhood many years before she transitioned.

I've followed Parker for a while now on Twitter, where she has made no secret that it's

really hard living with mental health concerns in an era of increasing aggressive transphobia

in public discourse. She's written about being just so tired from the hatred she gets online and elsewhere for being who she is.

Parker Malloy, welcome to Depression Mode.

...