161–170 of 514 posts
Note that this isn't an unbiased source. This is working with Jon, the co-writer of The Coddling Of The American Mind, which uhhh is not without its critics for inaccuracies and stretching of truth. Check it out: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-coddling-of-the-am...
The article has a point, but there's no proof for cause & effect. A completely different explanation could be that our societies are so advanced by now that we can finally listen to mental illnesses and take them seriously - while in the past people just had to 'function', no matter what.
That wouldn't explain such a drastic rise in one demographic (teenagers)
Earlier quoted context omitted.
In the article, the author makes a point to include objective metrics like rate of hospitalizations, and the data is quite conclusive in showing an actual increase. So these issues definitely did not exist before, at the same scale.
How does the rate of hospitalizations prove anything? Perhaps a growing awareness of mental health made people who were eligibile for hospitalization seek medical care, whereas before they would not be hospitalized for lack of a diagnosis? Or perhaps the same awareness made teens enact the pathological behavior they learned about online, complete with self-harm and suicide atemtps? Any measure you can think to track…
That would prove the escalation we're seeing, which is the point.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Unfortunately, you have now stumbled on the extremely politically sensitive elephant in the room. If it is environmental (microplastics anyone)... do we need to stop producing certain clothes (stretch clothing is particularly bad)? Could this actually be part of the increase in youth identifying as LGBTQ [1]? Is it a greater threat to our survival, health, and well-being than the more palatable issue (but still an is…
It's such a shame that scientists were figuring this out but the wrong person[0] spoke up and now it's a conspiracy theory. That's a weird dynamic. Wonder if it possibly happened with anything else we now call a "conspiracy theory." [0]: https://slatestarcodex.com/2019/02/04/respectability-cascade...
What's embarrassing is that Scott Alexander is unable to answer that question himself. Maybe he should ask ChatGPT?
Well, it also has been a tough decade - global financial crisis, wars and flood of refugees, political turmoil partially as a result of these, worries about climate change. Social media certainly amplifies these news and makes it hard to ever unplug, but we could also use better news. As for progressive teens, well their ideology is getting some serious pushback worldwide, so that's one reason to get depressed. Anoth…
Pretty much every decade could be called tough. Post-WW II in the US we had: - 1950s: Civil Rights, Korean war, dawn of the Cold War - 1960s: Vietnam war, more Cold War - 1970s: stagflation (high unemployment + high inflation), Watergate, even more Cold War - 1980s: more stagflation, worries about AIDS, environment (ozone layer, acid rain), urban decay and crack epidemic, rise of Japan, Greed is Good - 1990s: amongst…
Which lends credence to Haidt's suggestion that smartphones/widespread Internet is a primary factor. People tend to associate that with social media, which I would think is certainly part of it, but simply just being exposed to ideas can inculcate sympathetic ideas in people.
All your friends are depressed? Hey, life is hard for me too, and I'm kinda sad, maybe I'm depressed too. It sounds trite, but people en masse do work that way.
Social contagions were around before the Internet, but the Internet is an excellent medium for social contagions to grow quickly and spread widely.
The article has a point, but there's no proof for cause & effect. A completely different explanation could be that our societies are so advanced by now that we can finally listen to mental illnesses and take them seriously - while in the past people just had to 'function', no matter what.
Who knows if this is a possibile contributor or not. Would be interesting to look into.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why would this be? It is obvious the existentially complicated things create anxiety.
Is that obvious? Or do the immediate, simple things - I have to see everyone at school tomorrow and they all think [something bad about me] - create anxiety more? I think it's probably easier to distract yourself from "ice is going to melt into the ocean and kill a bunch of people eventually" than from "people are having fun and didn't invite me RIGHT NOW"
The article has a point, but there's no proof for cause & effect. A completely different explanation could be that our societies are so advanced by now that we can finally listen to mental illnesses and take them seriously - while in the past people just had to 'function', no matter what.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I’m not saying Dobbs doesn’t matter, only that I both 1) doubt it’s a central driver of the trend Yeah, I’m not saying it (or reproductive rights & health care more generally) is the central driver of the trend, I’m saying its one of the key reasons why if someone asked me, today, what group in American society would be most depressed, my intuitive response would be “white liberal teen girls” (particularly, its a k…
Interesting. I would much rather be a (white liberal) teen girl today than in ~2012, but I can see how insofar as Dobbs is only a manifestation of existing trends, I might be in the minority. It's just hard to wrap my head around what this trend would be, or why teens started picking up on it in 2012. I am not conscious of any major modern debates around women's rights except abortion/birth control, and I see no part…