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Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

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Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#31

Post by wewewedxfgdf »

Is it because the world is more depressing?

Inequality, injustice, war, climate change, lack of opportunity, loneliness, destruction of social systems by technology, decay of community values and the promise of a worse not better future. Is it that this generation is less well off than its parents, that housing is no longer affordable, that the world is polluted, that nuclear war has returned as a possibility, that careers once valuable are commoditized by technology? Is that why or is it something else?

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#32

Post by LoganDark »

deepsun wrote: post #16
LoganDark wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is a thing people do when they feel a lack of control over other aspects of their life. It's a coping mechanism. Frequently comorbid with depression. Also it's quite rude of you to dismiss an entire generation with this belittling rhetoric. Mental health is a really, really big deal.

Watch any movie, typically the protagonist is good looking and antagonist is ugly. That's the whole answer. In Game of Thrones director had a chance to make the dwarf (protagonist ) really ugly, like in the books, but they chose a good looking actor. Same for Harry Potter, Hermione was supposed to be meh.

That's absolutely not the whole answer and never has been.

- People who crave validation seek good looks. They want to be accepted.

- People who crave status seek good looks. They want to be awarded.

- People who crave admiration seek good looks. They want to be desired.

There are so, so many more possible reasons and motivations, and it highly depends on the individual. Someone could have all of the above or none of the above and still obsess over looks. Someone could obsess for different reasons in different contexts or with different moods.

It's not based on some infantile monkey-see-monkey-do obsession with media.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#33

Post by quantummagic »

card_zero wrote: post #27
hackernud3s wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what adaptation looks like actually, some organisms not surviving to reproduce.

We have to be genetically adapted to survive food deliveries and TikTok?

The point is that to the extent it causes certain individuals to lose faith in humanity, or become reclusive, and as a result not reproduce -- it has the effect of altering the overall genetic makeup of subsequent generations. The net result being a population "adapted" to this new environment.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#34

Post by cindyllm »

win311fwg wrote: post #22
EA-3167 wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Arguably the ability of people to see how the wealthiest people are living is going to create exactly that sense. What is Instagram if not a giant machine to generate the exact feeling? After all it “inspires” people to emulate what they see, which usually involves spending whatever they have on their appearance and lifestyle.

> Arguably the ability of people to see how the wealthiest people are living is going to create exactly that sense. What are they seeing? I admittedly have yet to meet a billionaire (that I know of), but I've seen plenty of deca- and centimillionaires out in the wild. They were just doing mundane things like eating at McDonald's or sitting in the stands watching their children/grandchildren play sports. They were jus…

[dead]

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#35

Post by Avicebron »

wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #31

Is it because the world is more depressing? Inequality, injustice, war, climate change, lack of opportunity, loneliness, destruction of social systems by technology, decay of community values and the promise of a worse not better future. Is it that this generation is less well off than its parents, that housing is no longer affordable, that the world is polluted, that nuclear war has returned as a possibility, that c…

Turns out when people can't afford kids, healthcare, housing they are unhappy.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#36

Post by pinkmuffinere »

card_zero wrote: post #27
hackernud3s wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is what adaptation looks like actually, some organisms not surviving to reproduce.

We have to be genetically adapted to survive food deliveries and TikTok?

Why not? The claim (which I believe is well supported) is that these things hijack some innate impulses to trap us in bad decisions. If you consistently make bad decisions (eg, put off developing your life) your line is less likely to continue.

This is just like animals that didn’t run from humans — they didn’t know to be scared of us and now they’re dead. Even massive things that could crush us can be killed if we slip through their defenses. The ones that survive are the ones that learn to fear the dangerous thing.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#37

Post by LoganDark »

brbrodude wrote: post #9
bluefirebrand wrote: post #2

I don't know. I think it's too convenient to blame this solely on devices and internet and such. I'm certain that they are a symptom, but I am unconvinced that they are a sole cause for this Edit: Obviously not a psychologist, but just from what I observe: People have had way higher expectations from life than ever before in the past, and life has not really been meeting those expectations. A lot of people I know sim…

But what about "the medium is the message"? I haven't read the book, but I'm remembering a quote mentioning how the technological mediums become extensions of our nervous systems, through this optic, internet and devices maybe really do have this kind of potency...

people don't often understand the integration I have with my devices, and the digital world in general. they are part of me in a very real sense. I learned to operate a computer much the same as someone would learn to move their arm. it is almost something greater than just second nature to me. it feels very similar to how a skilled operator can see heavy machinery as an extension of their body.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#38

Post by darth_avocado »

Avicebron wrote: post #35
wewewedxfgdf wrote: post #31

Is it because the world is more depressing? Inequality, injustice, war, climate change, lack of opportunity, loneliness, destruction of social systems by technology, decay of community values and the promise of a worse not better future. Is it that this generation is less well off than its parents, that housing is no longer affordable, that the world is polluted, that nuclear war has returned as a possibility, that c…

Turns out when people can't afford kids, healthcare, housing they are unhappy.

*while being unemployed or having the threat of unemployment 24x7

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#39

Post by jrapdx3 »

paimapi wrote: post #19

my partner is a psychiatrist (that's the one with an MD) in our household we treat all overly broad, trendy statements like this one with a huge grain of salt the difference between rates of diagnosed major depressive disorder (MDD) vs the past has much more to do with a combination of the diagnostic criteria being refined [1] over the years and the increase of screening [2] during your annual checkup (something phys…

MDD is the "bread and butter" of psychiatric practice. I'm not really sure how much that's changed over decades. Of course, depression treatment options have evolved greatly since the late 80s, truly a blessing.

You're probably right that increased awareness, reduced stigma and improved attention to diagnosis play a role in apparent population rate increase. Interesting how the comments here put forth quite a few "theories" regarding sources of the increase.

AFAIK there's no definitive explanation of the observation. In passing we should note that many other psychiatric conditions have parallel rising incidences. The factors you cite apply to those conditions as well.

Psychiatric conditions in general are very complex, with associations to a wide array of factors. Most likely many small contributors add up to vulnerability to one or more of these conditions. Our brains are constructed to prefer lumping things into simpler categories. What we call MDD clearly enough is not a unitary disease but outcome of a messy set of myriad "causes" diagnostically lumped together.

The progress made in identifying and treating psychiatric disorders is impressive and gratifying. The more we accept the messy reality, the greater the level of progress we'll make.

Re: Depression has tripled in the last 15 years. Arthur Brooks about the cause

#40

Post by card_zero »

pinkmuffinere wrote: post #36
card_zero wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have to be genetically adapted to survive food deliveries and TikTok?

Why not? The claim (which I believe is well supported) is that these things hijack some innate impulses to trap us in bad decisions. If you consistently make bad decisions (eg, put off developing your life) your line is less likely to continue. This is just like animals that didn’t run from humans — they didn’t know to be scared of us and now they’re dead. Even massive things that could crush us can be killed if we s…

So hopefully future generations develop an instinctive fear of food deliveries and TikTok, or what?
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