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Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

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Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#291

Post by Xelbair »

burntoutfire wrote: post #284
moooo99 wrote: post #239

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You think teenagers are thinking about pensions... If they are they are probably already having mental issues because that's not something someone pre 20s should be concerned about. This is happening, based on my own experience. I am 22, I have a safe job with an above average salary but I still cannot find an apartment with my partner. I can’t imagine affording my own place with the current prices, especially not…

> I have a safe job with an above average salary but I still cannot find an apartment with my partner. Do you have an above average salary for the region you're looking for the apartment in? If so, then who's getting those apartments, if the majority of people cannot afford them? Is this a special case like SF where there's just not enough apartments being built for the size of population?

Over here they are mostly bought up as an investment, usually before they are even officially sold.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#292

Post by Ekaros »

Also it seems social media has huge effects on bullying too. As it doesn't anymore stop at home door, but continues through day and night. Previously at least outside school and getting there from there you could escape it. But now it is ever present and probably somehow worse if shared to multiple people on Internet.

And nothing is done to punish the bullies or remove them from the system. They are not locked up or shipped in some facility where they could not anymore cause harm and damage to others. So sad that adults allow them continue it without any proper repercussions.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#293

Post by tetris11 »

rendall wrote: post #272
sofixa wrote: post #256

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Climate change drastically changes that equation. Not only will life expectancy go down, but life itself will probably become harder for many people in many places - droughts, heat waves, floodings, hunger and famine, mass migration, etc.

Except, people have been saying exactly this with the same unshakable confidence, literally since the beginning of recorded history. In the 70s, it was said that we would have experienced all of those things by 2000, and yet, life continued to get dramatically better for everyone, particularly for the poorest. So, no. Life will continue to get better despite global warming. Or, not doing so is an extraordinarily clai…

They rang the alarm bells because they saw the trend and tried to curb it. They knew things would get bad, not neccesarily at an exact date. We are only now experiencing the contributions to the atmosphere made at the dawn of the last century. This delayed effect is worrying to say the least.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#295

Post by nivenkos »

ben_w wrote: post #281
nivenkos wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Situation wrt to teen mental health is similar in Europe, but there's a much smaller graduation debt. But Europe has far lower professional salaries than the US. Also economic conditions definitely have a big impact, I could finally buy a small flat after years of renting and it's such a great change to be able to make changes in your own home and buy your own things. My father did that at 23, not 30.

Both for you and the person you are replying to, I would caution that “Europe” isn’t one country like the USA, even just the EU is 27 smaller countries in a trenchcoat — the average may be lower, but bits are higher. University tuition is wildly variable and not directly proportional to income: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuition_payments (Housing costs are also wildly variable, but I don’t know where to get enough…

Yeah, I am European, I've lived and worked in 3 different EU countries.

But Americans really don't appreciate how lucky they are. An American CS college grad can earn more than almost all senior/staff engineers anywhere in the EU e.g. ~$150k.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#297

Post by hycaria »

paxys wrote: post #68

Social media definitely amplifies it, but consider the economic and social environment that teenagers have lived through their entire lives. Multiple major recessions, a global pandemic, rising inflation, housing and education getting more expensive by the day, prospect of a mountain of debt right after graduation, climate that will be unlivable in a few decades, political extremism becoming the norm, and massive gov…

I don’t know, I see girls obsessing over their image, grown women obsessing over their image, selfies taken everywhere all the time just to show one’s face…

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#298

Post by Longhanks »

paxys wrote: post #68

Social media definitely amplifies it, but consider the economic and social environment that teenagers have lived through their entire lives. Multiple major recessions, a global pandemic, rising inflation, housing and education getting more expensive by the day, prospect of a mountain of debt right after graduation, climate that will be unlivable in a few decades, political extremism becoming the norm, and massive gov…

I grew up in Germany, so I was told stories of my grandfather, who lived through an entire world war, his home, home town, home country being entirely destroyed, being denied the return to his home since it was annexed and now behind the iron curtain, civilians he knew being murdered, pieces of butter being the best currency available, the nonexistence of any infrastructure such as roads, the very definition of political extremism in positions of total power, no outlook for any education at all, basically the entire continent in ruins.

Yet, he and many others lived.

I'm not trying to downplay the problems of today's youth (I'm not even 30 myself and will have to deal with lots of them by myself). But I think humanity has proven that it will find its way.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#299

Post by Xelbair »

jl6 wrote: post #212
paxys wrote: post #68

Social media definitely amplifies it, but consider the economic and social environment that teenagers have lived through their entire lives. Multiple major recessions, a global pandemic, rising inflation, housing and education getting more expensive by the day, prospect of a mountain of debt right after graduation, climate that will be unlivable in a few decades, political extremism becoming the norm, and massive gov…

Do you by any chance use social media? Is it possible that your bleak assessment of the state of the world has been influenced by it, and the hopelessness you are promoting is acquired from your media environment, and is part of a socially contagious spiral of anxiety & depression that you are passing on to others through this particular social medium? Doctors don’t generally say to patients “yes, your life really is…

I don't use social media, never did, nor watch TV - and i have the same outlook - because that's what's happening. And i had the same outlook when i was a teen too.

Increased divide between rich and poor, lack of middle class in my country, our pension/retirement system has been a joke for 10s of years and we were joking in middle school about it(!). Politicians actively working against country's best interests to line their own pockets is a norm - and that applies to every party so even elections are a joke.

Add high inflation to that, as a teen with limited budget you tend to notice price rises of snacks and fast food.

USA was hailed as a the promised land here when i was a teen, disillusionment with it is also a contributing factor.

Re: Teen mental health is plummeting and social media is a major contributing cause [pdf]

#300

Post by axiomsEnd »

melomal wrote: post #251
paxys wrote: post #68

Social media definitely amplifies it, but consider the economic and social environment that teenagers have lived through their entire lives. Multiple major recessions, a global pandemic, rising inflation, housing and education getting more expensive by the day, prospect of a mountain of debt right after graduation, climate that will be unlivable in a few decades, political extremism becoming the norm, and massive gov…

History tends to repeat itself and there have been many, many situations much worse than what we have experienced due to poor hygiene, health, inequality in wealth and so on. Kids working in factories from young ages just to make a couple of pennies for a loaf of bread, then being beaten at home and school. It almost feels like people are completely unaware of various pandemics that wiped out millions, trial by fire…

But is this econony better for everyone, or just for some? In my city apartmenrs bought en masse by headgefunds, and developers trying to sell 7m2 cages as "microapartments" as most people are unable to buy a normal one. So perspective may be different, because housing market is booming, but most people won't buy an apartment.
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