Young people today are stressed, depressed—and changing the fundamental pattern of happiness, new research shows
Young people today are stressed, depressed—and changing the fundamental pattern of happiness, new research shows
Young adults — ages 18 to 25 — report being unhappier now than people in their 40s and 50s. Here are some potential explanations and solutions.
Youth will bring capitalism to the ground! Abolish
Very stressy and depressy
Well the planet is being destroyed, inflation is rapidly impoverishing people, there's a genocide against palestinians, we've got an election between two creepy fash zionists...
The problem is obviously that kids have cell phones. We should take away their cell phones! \s \s \s
Young people today in Western nations are going to die in the trenches of tomorrow, I'd be unhappy if I were them too.
And until then, there's the economic depression we've been living through for decades now, with continuous unending cuts to everything, from healthcare to education, wage spending power to prospects of advancement.
And let's not forget that is tied directly to the hugely widening gap between the rich ruling class and the rest of us, which many are finally starting to notice, even though the media - owned by the rich - do their best to hide their actions through propaganda, and hiding/twisting news that doesn't follow their narrative, every day.
The only thing that isn't in decline is the pricetag. Those are flying up and up on everything. We can barely afford water any more.
Anyway, yeah. Young people are aware of their incredibly bleak future, and they're not as repressed as previous generations either.
They're emotionally intelligent enough to understand and share their feelings with their peers, something previous generations were too deeply repressed to do (instead those generations were taught unhealthy mental coping strategies - to have a stiff upper lip, keep your problems to yourself, just tell everyone you're doing fine when asked, etc).
So, they're quite openly vocal about how little hope there is. A fool's hope, I suppose.
Here's the thing. This isn't a generational thing. People of all ages, at all points in time were unhappy. The difference is, I'm in my 40s, and I don't sit there and tell everyone who asks if I'm unhappy.
"Hey, how are you?"
"Good."
And then everyone moves on with their life. Doesn't mean I'm doing good. I just know that nobody gives a shit that I'm not doing ok, and never have been doing good mentally.
Whereas younger people haven't figured out yet that all their friends will eventually betray them, all their love interests will eventually leave them, happyness is a myth, and that we all die depressed and alone. So younger people are more vocal, thinking it's going to change something.
Holy shit that's even doomy-er than me, and I very much doubt that I will ever be able to afford to retire and am skeptical that society is going to last long enough for that to be a meaningful concern.
We live in a world where you're designed to fail, and yet suicide is thought of as selfish, and wrong, and you're an asshole if you're comfortable with the idea of people doing it.
All so a very select few, who have in no way earned it, get to hoard all the worlds wealth. While modern day slavery not only exists, but is promoted within these circles. Just yesterday there was a post on Lemmy about how some CEO thinks that Gen Z should work long hours, doing anything their asked, all for free. So people on Lemmy make their jokes, and nothing is solved. That woman still fully believes she's entitled to slave labor. Other CEOs will use slave labor in other countries, because those countries don't have any kinds of protections in place to protect humans from that type of behavior. These people will fully use and abuse those under them, for FUN. They don't even need to get a financial benefit for it. Just the fact that they can treat people like dirt, and face no reprocussions, is enough to get their jollies off.
And it's not new. This has been happening for centures. It will keep happening for MORE centuries. And all this talk about "Vote for this guy, vote for that guy" ultimately doesn't do much since the politicians don't have any real power anyways. Good or bad, all these "plans" politicians talk about are just that....plans. Plans that never come to pass. I can remember Bill Clinton saying in 1991 that he would be open to reevaluating how marijuanna in this country is handled from a legal perspective. If he had made it legal, MILLIONS of citizens (and no, I'm not exaggerating) wouldn't have criminal records. Police in this country are trained to look for people who can't legally defend themselves, and create a problem that puts them in jail. Where you're legally a slave. Again, not exaggerating. It's literally how the 13th amendment is worded. Slavery is legal if you become a prisoner to the state.
And so with all of this happening in the world, your first thought is "Ok, so how do we change it?" and that's the part that no one is willing to admit. You DON'T change it. You have no power. You never did. You're voting on an election for a person who either way doesn't have power. It's the way this country, and every other country has been set up for longer than any of us have been alive. The world is, and always has been, designed around the profit of others suffering. So it will continue until long past your dying breath. This is the system working as intended. Nothing is wrong in the eyes of those who run things....other than they want more of what little you do have.
Burdens shared are often easier to bear than burdens borne alone.
And you are afraid they might actually change something, because that'd mean you'd have suffered for nothing.
No, I'm just certain they won't. Change takes a big revolution. A united revolution. And half our country is gagging on the elites ballsacks.
Which is exactly what they want. They have a legalized method of population control in the police. They use hallow points of division to spread hate, like racism, politics, and religion.
The end result is everybody is fighting each other, rather than forming a french style revolution.
And even the french revolution failed in the long term, because they had no long term game plan to fight corruption. So over the years things just went back to how they were.
And now with global communication comes global influences from the outside. Now the people controling you don't have to even be on the same continent as you.
That the "newer" generations insist on dealing with the things fucking them over and making them unhappy is completely destructive to your "point".
You do nothing so you get no benefit. Quelle surprise, you still have no point. So you lie and avoid the question/subject or you suffer in silence like a regular person/drunk in Russia?
Sage advice, so glad for this contribution. You're officially part of the problem the moment you start implying others should lower their standards cuz you win the olympics of suffering.
You seem to be missing the point of what I'm saying. I'm saying that younger people are recorded as suffering. Whereas older people aren't recorded as suffering. So the numbers show younger people are suffering in greater numbers than older people....when that's not the case at all. The older people just don't say anything, and therefore there's no record of it.
It doesn't matter what anybodys standards are. Higher, lower, doesn't matter. We all end up in the ground.
Being depressed and plowing through isn't a testament of your honorable resilience. It means you should seek out help. Life isn't like this for most people.
Unfortunately this analysis is a year over year comparison over the same age groups, not an age over age comparison in the same year. So your claim would not apply in this case.
Doesn't matter. I'm talking about an age group. Just like 7 year old boys will always love trains. Doesn't matter if that boy is 7 in 1921, 1945, 2002, 2024, 7 year olds will always love trains.
And everybody, regardless of age, will be miserable. It's just that when your younger, you're more vocal. When you're older you realize you're not changing shit. So just do what you can instead.
Damn, homeboy, get your depressed ass on some Lexapro or some shit.
I totally get why this comment is downvoted
Because people don't want to admit that we live in a world, and always have, and always will, where human suffering is profitable to those in control.
The difference is, older generations were more willing to believe the lies of society, young people less so
I wouldn't be so sure that generational sentiments never will change, it's possible that this time it's different, and young people who are in shitty conditions would be much more willing to make change and outright speak against capitalism and current systems.
Why would it be different this time? Because of the internet, and greater acknowledgment, awareness, and lessened stigma of mental health issues and general life struggles.