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U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

news.gallup.com

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Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#61

Post by nofum »

lostcolony wrote: post #45
nofum wrote: post #31

Obvious lockdown residue. Could also be COVID itself but far fewer people were directly affected by that.

Could also be the increased income disparity, the huge leap in housing costs without associated pay increase, the obvious inability of the US to change the direction it (and the world) is heading... I mean, it's rising most amongst young adults and minorities; given the political climate alone I can understand the correlation there.

Exactly, lockdowns caused a huge spike in precisely all those things. Income disparity skyrockets as the laptop class gets raises and stock bonuses while the servant class delivers their food while inflation skyrockets. Housing costs explode as the fixed supply in suburbia is swamped with urban exiles working remote and lockdowns cause supply chain disruptions.

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#62

Post by carimura »

boringg wrote: post #17

1. Media narratives and sites like reddit -> focusing on the extremes is robbing people of the qualities of the life around them. 2. Keeping up with the Jones per se in the world of social media really knocks people down.

i'm sure it's a lot of factors but to your point one could look at this problem from a dozen angles and there's almost no way to conclude that social media and 24/7 race-to-bottom engagement model of news has been a net positive on our mental health.

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#65

Post by maegul »

1-6 wrote: post #23

I find it hard to detach from work and focus on my well-being. Work from home was convenient and necessary to a certain extent but I miss being able to get off the clock as soon as I left company doors at the end of the day.

As nice as WFH is for many of us (or society at large), the truth is I think that many of us and society at large isn't really set up to do it well. For working from home to be balanced with also living at home, you need some physical separation and space so that work spaces and living spaces are easily compartmentalised.

This requires bigger homes with probably some layout adjustments. Some will already have the homes for such things, but many, not at all.

I always figured from the early days of the pandemic/WFH that distributed/decentralised workspaces would be a nice shift, so that most residential areas could have a not-too-distant workspace with no substantial commute. Then you decouple work's office location and/or personal home ammenities from your actual working conditions. Dunno if this is an actual thing or actually viable.

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#66

Post by higeorge13 »

rib3ye wrote: post #56

Probably a vastly unpopular opinion in HN but don’t we think sitting at home alone all day, working remote, could be related? Humans evolved to be physically social, is 100% remote really the right direction for American society?

Besides the hn/tech bubble, what percentage of people work remote jobs? Probably 0% according to my circle (in Greece). Is it different in the US?

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#67

Post by cm2012 »

rib3ye wrote: post #56

Probably a vastly unpopular opinion in HN but don’t we think sitting at home alone all day, working remote, could be related? Humans evolved to be physically social, is 100% remote really the right direction for American society?

Less than 20% of Americans wfh (we are in a white collar bubble), would have to be an insane effect size.

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#68

Post by ch4s3 »

rib3ye wrote: post #56

Probably a vastly unpopular opinion in HN but don’t we think sitting at home alone all day, working remote, could be related? Humans evolved to be physically social, is 100% remote really the right direction for American society?

Most Americans don't work from home, but social isolation is increasing.

Re: U.S. Depression Rates Reach New Highs

#69

Post by petercooper »

dimitrios1 wrote: post #43
petercooper wrote: post #11

The rates of people diagnosed with depression. Things that were once taboos, had stigma attached to them, or were poorly defined may once have been more often kept under wraps. See ADHD or ASD diagnosis rates, for example.

I still think this is a overall net increase. The stigma wasn't preventing people from getting diagnosed and treated Zoloft was Pfizer's second best selling drug during most of the 90s. So people were still going to get diagnosed and treated despite the stigma. They just wouldn't tell anyone about it, other than their therapist.

The diagnosis of "hysteria" dropped by two thirds in the mid twentieth century with the diagnosis of "depression" replacing it. People may well have been going to the doctor, but they were not necessarily being diagnosed with the conditions we now associate with their symptoms.

To your final paragraph, that also highlights the flaws in Gallup style polling. Even if people were being diagnosed in equal number, it doesn't mean they would admit to it in a poll.

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