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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]

#81

Post by XorNot »

germinalphrase wrote: post #22

My entirely anecdotal impression as a high school teacher is that media (in general, often but not always “social” media) is doing an exceptional job of sucking up teenagers’ every waking moment that is not actively demanded to be focused on something else. It’s pleasure without joy. Ennui without boredom. Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many…

Insert Socrates quote here. What adults think they understand about current trends in teenage culture were laughably wrong when I was a teenager, and there's no reason to think the trend has changed.

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

#82

Post by bradlys »

germinalphrase wrote: post #22

My entirely anecdotal impression as a high school teacher is that media (in general, often but not always “social” media) is doing an exceptional job of sucking up teenagers’ every waking moment that is not actively demanded to be focused on something else. It’s pleasure without joy. Ennui without boredom. Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many…

> Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many of them struggle to articulate any kind of positive vision for themselves/their lives unless they have lucked into a passion or have family that pushes.

Yikes. How is a lack of positive vision indicative of poor social skills? You can be quite articulate and good at socializing but still suicidal.

Have you ever considered that maybe young people are disillusioned with their surroundings and the people who are older than them? After all - you come on here and complain that they’re socially inept, negative, and mostly unworthy of any attention. Maybe they’re just reflecting back what you feel about them.

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

#83

Post by twayt »

Figure 2 that shows the rates of major depression among boys and girls is shocking.

1 in 4 girls and 1 in 10 boys have been diagnosed with major depression.

I wonder what the distribution is of others who haven't been diagnosed or deal with depression to a lower degree.

Something that may be surprising to some people is that this trend isn't limited to boys and girls.

From data collected in 2019/2020, 30% of people aged 18-25 years in the USA have diagnosed mental health issues. This number is skewed heavily towards women too.

Source: Table 8.1B https://www.samhsa.gov/data/report/2020-nsduh-detailed-table...

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

#84

Post by dpweb »

What bothers me most and even on HN, where you usaully get intelligent discourse, the alarmist pessimism. Everything is falling apart! Just another form of self-indulgence. There must be something compelling about pretending the apocolypse is tomorrow.

Yes, there are problems in our social, political, ecomonic systems. They need to be recognized and addressed. Democracy makes that process slow and difficult. But the pessimism to me is one of the biggest dangers.

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

#85

Post by foolfoolz »

germinalphrase wrote: post #22

My entirely anecdotal impression as a high school teacher is that media (in general, often but not always “social” media) is doing an exceptional job of sucking up teenagers’ every waking moment that is not actively demanded to be focused on something else. It’s pleasure without joy. Ennui without boredom. Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many…

“older generation thinks something different than younger generation”

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

#86

Post by _huayra_ »

treespace8 wrote: post #18

Parent of a teen, one anecdote to add. You see what all your friends are doing all the time. Every gathering or event that you where not a part of you see, sometimes in real time. People hate being excluded, and this greatly amplifies this feeling. I'm certain I missed out on a ton of cool stuff as a kid, but at least I didn't have to see it.

There's a difference between hearing about a social event that you missed after the fact and seeing it going on live without you in real time.

High school was hard enough for me when the web was just barely coming out of its primordial state of "some nerdy stuff for dweebs".

I also can't imagine the magnitude and speed of social and interpersonal relationships that happens as a result of social media and just instant communication. Trying to navigate that as a teen is just something I can't comprehend, before one learns how to truly be equanimous as an adult who has a separate identity from how they are perceived by others.

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

#87

Post by mjfl »

germinalphrase wrote: post #22

My entirely anecdotal impression as a high school teacher is that media (in general, often but not always “social” media) is doing an exceptional job of sucking up teenagers’ every waking moment that is not actively demanded to be focused on something else. It’s pleasure without joy. Ennui without boredom. Their social skills (and social interest) appear markedly reduced even compared to even five years ago. So many…

That’s pretty horrifying to be honest

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

#88

Post by Clubber »

vmception wrote: post #28

I think a lot of us in other generations are part of the same trends I used to laugh at fidget spinners and everything gen z, then I tried formal education again, taking a class for a semester and oh my god the first couple sessions were really difficult! It immediately clicked with me that we - at least I - am not exempt from deteriorated concentration. I’m acclimated to the creative and less-structured demands of g…

>I - am not exempt from deteriorated concentration

It's a muscle. Anyone who hasn't done school for a while will have to rebuild that muscle. It was like that before social media, just gotta relearn how to learn.

Programming is similar. If you do nothing but CRUD for a while (for whatever reason), when you gotta do the hard stuff where you have to keep a bunch of structure in your head at the same time, you're probably gonna struggle with it. After a few weeks, you'll be in better shape.

Same with reading complex documents, writing, math, etc.

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

#89

Post by ginger2016 »

eggsmediumrare wrote: post #13
ginger2016 wrote: post #5

Haidt wants to censor the speech he doesn’t like; he is pining for the old order. His main talking point is Diversity and Equity is bad. He even suggests diversity is bad. Watch this video from mid point. https://youtu.be/RKRuvKtFvqo

I doubt you're all that familiar with his work if you think his main point is anti-diversity. Read The Righteous Mind. It's a really good book.

I am not familiar with his work, I watched his videos on YouTube. In the videos he is frequently talking against diversity and equity, and I was surprised a Professor of his stature advocating against diversity and equity. I found his arguments divisive and thought it was directed at the diversity and equity initiatives aimed at increasing enrollment of people of color in major universities and technology companies like Google.

Maybe his books are good, haven’t read it. I will listen to it on audible.

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

#90

Post by Clubber »

dpweb wrote: post #84

What bothers me most and even on HN, where you usaully get intelligent discourse, the alarmist pessimism. Everything is falling apart! Just another form of self-indulgence. There must be something compelling about pretending the apocolypse is tomorrow. Yes, there are problems in our social, political, ecomonic systems. They need to be recognized and addressed. Democracy makes that process slow and difficult. But the…

Yes, you're talking about despair. We get constantly feed a steady stream of doom and gloom from old media and have been for decades. I assume social media is just more of the same. I try to catch myself and try to be optimistic, but if I consume a lot of it, it's overwhelming.

I definitely have been limiting my intake of news over the past several years. Election cycles are the worst for doom and gloom, but they all sell it, all the time.

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