Life-threatening mental health concerns affecting U.S. teens have reached a crisis point, complicated by a laundry list of social issues.

Two recent tragedies, a death on a New York city subway train and a mass shooting in Texas, show that too many of us follow the temptation to describe others as less than human.

The crisis for teens is both psychological and spiritual, and it demands a response from both mental health and faith communities. How do we make our church again a place of belonging for young people who are hurting?

To face potential mortal illness with wry humor and a taste for the ironic takes a delicate touch, but that is what the United Church of Christ pastor and writer Molly Baskette does in her new book.

This week on The Gloria Purvis Podcast, Gloria speaks with Dr. Meg Chisolm, a Catholic psychiatrist, about mental illness and how should people of faith treat it.

It is easy to think of older people as always having existed in their current condition. Does it make us feel younger to think that way? More superior? Perhaps we hope it holds our own mortality at bay.