OFM S1 E20: Empathy, not Sympathy w/ Phoenix Underwood, Fonder of emp(a)t(h)y

Our Season One season finale is with Phoenix Underwood, founder of the social network, emp(a)t(h)y, a platform for people struggling with grief and mental health. The concept came from his own experiences dealing with the loss of his father, and similar losses suffered from those of his closest friends. We discuss the potential of such a platform to help, and even harm, its users, and how sympathy may be great, but it often doesn't make people feel any less alone.

Phoenix Underwood is the brains behind emp(a)t(h)y, a type of social network that believes that, sometimes, the best way to get through something is knowing you're not alone. It’s meant to provide peer support for users who match with others based on shared feelings and experiences.

As he and I discuss on our season finale episode, while sympathy is appreciated, it often doesn't end our loneliness and our isolation. What he is proposing isn't all that different from the point of our podcast. If we can stand up and start talking about our experiences so that we can empathize with one another, we can all know that we aren't alone in our suffering and begin to truly heal.

Regular episodes of Our Fractured Minds will return in 2018.