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Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

arstechnica.com

141–150 of 624 posts

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#141

Teens aren't doing drugs, smoking, drinking, or having sex. And the suicide rate has never been higher.

I've had is persisting thought that, we as a society have been delaying adulthood, thus extending childhood, with each decade for a while. And we've now pushed it so far that the current cohort of teens simply are effectively young children on a social/emotion perspective making them unprepared to handle the stresses their age is exposing them to.

I would agree that modern childhood is protracted to what is perhaps a damaging extent, but would also argue that the stresses and anxieties of everyday life are more constant and overbearing than the human psyche is equipped to handle. It’s mot healthy for well-adjusted adults either. We’re built for dangers and stresses that come in relatively short bursts, not those that are without end.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#144

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Growing up, people on the street would fidget with their cigarettes. Now they fidget with their phones.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#145
post #134
post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Offhand the only drug-like thing I remember from that series is the nutrition bars that had 0 calories that most of the school got addicted to. Or maybe the cheerleader that got bee pheromones and started controlling the rest of the students. Aside - I just learned a month ago that there's an official followup miniseries that brought back several of the original actors, titled "Echoes", with hopefully more coming sin…

Dangit tried to delete this when I realized this is completely unrelated, just a similar name, and was seconds late. Got the delete link then it denied me.

Straight to the dungeon for you.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#146
post #131
post #18

Another aspect here I think is the generalized fear and anxiety present in young people. Having spoken to some family members in the 15-18 age bracket, the message they seem to be receiving is that they are without a future... they won't be buying homes, they won't be getting high paying jobs, and that the system is not going to work in their favor. I think people of this age are uniquely feeling mortal and vulnerabl…

> you typically need to be unsupervised with friends to get into drugs, something teenagers no longer have access to compared to 10-15 years ago. They don't? I'm pretty sure I saw unsupervised teens hanging out at a mall even just a few days ago.

Gen X’s will probably remember being unsupervised from about the age they learned to ride a bike. I think we were the last “get home before dark” generation.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#147

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

Opiate of the masses (21st Century version)

I think psychedelic is more apt (but not a perfect analogy either).

Expands horizons, connects self to world, catalyzes cults and psychoses.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#148
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the insane political risks and social instability, climate change, heightened risks of war and econmomic calamity, housing cost increase.

All I want in life is a good union for software. Role finished this week, who needs me next week? Off I go.

How would a union help you move between roles? Or are you saying the opposite.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#149
post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also the insane political risks and social instability, climate change, heightened risks of war and econmomic calamity, housing cost increase.

All I want in life is a good union for software. Role finished this week, who needs me next week? Off I go.

The political instability, social instability, climate change, wars, and more will affect you whether or not you deny them.

Re: Decline in teen drug use continues, surprising experts

#150

I wonder if the new drug of choice is actually technology. In some ways I think that the addiction to technology has some similar mellowing effects as drugs. Some research indicates that smartphone addiction is also related to low self-esteem and avoidant attachment [1] and that smartphones can become an object of attachment [2]. The replacement of drugs by technology is not surprising as it significantly strengthens…

It is somewhat amusing that Leary had a period of saying that computers were the new drugs (“PC is the new LSD” or something)

Marshall "Joyce is my LSD" McLuhan would agree emphatically.
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