4 ms·

Prozac Nation Is Now the United States of Xanax

33 points by kawera 9y ago

jaclaz 9y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960
kome 9y ago
The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Perhaps like the rest of their healthcare...
- PaulHoule 9y ago
  Actually benzodiazepine addiction is perceived to be a particularly bad problem in the UK. There is a clinic in Is real that treats a large number of Israelis who allegedly wrecked their nervous system with LSD and are now unfit for the IDF. A clinic in Poland is always treating drunks who drank too much 1-propanol. Benzodiazepines deliver fast relief from anxiety but they interfere with learning and memory. Naturally people can learn how to deal with problems better and maybe therapy can speed up that process. Benzodiazepines throw a monkey wrench into that, but antidepressants do not. That article has a social context on that the news media is benefitting enormously from trump because people keep reading and watching to see what crazy thing trump will say next. CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans.
  - rdtsc 9y ago
    > CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans That's kinda my thinking. CNN went so far in backing one candidate and ignoring or negatively covering the others, that if I didn't know any better would have thought they colluded with Trump. That is, by their obvious bias and seeming obsession with Trump, reporting about how many scoops of ice creams he eats, the whole Russia this Russia that narrative, saying stupid stuff like "don't read these documents, it's illegal, come to us for interpretation" they pushed people away and are making Trump look credible.
- benevol 9y ago
  > Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Most definitely. But it's just a reflection of how much American culture values money/power/domination. US health-care is simply dominated by a ferocious version of capitalism (which of course includes an overdose of corruption).
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  The quality of life for most Americans is on the decline, hence why political extremists on both sides were nearly elected(For those outside the US, yes, Sanders is considered an extremist in this country). Workers work more, make less, get treated less well by their employers, have less stability, and simply don't have much free time. Socially, America is losing their identity due to a spreading mentality that social norms are bad for us. We spend time with other people less, have fewer close relationships, and find trouble spending much time with our kids because both parents work. Those who move to big cities from rural areas because the cities are the only places rising economically right now find that they lose the social support and child-rearing support that families provide, but there's not much they can do about that if they want to be okay financially. College is seen as the only avenue of getting out of that rat-race, but with ballooning schooling costs and large time and mental requirements to complete it, it's becoming an option for fewer and fewer people... Then when you do graduate, you're still paid significantly less than graduates 10 years ago. On top of all this, there isn't even healthcare stability. Costs for care and medication are ballooning so high so fast, but it's not like we can do anything about it. Healthcare is a necessity. If you're poor, can't afford insurance, and find yourself with a cut, broken bone, or god forbid cancer, you can't even be sure you'll be able to get care. With all of this instability, insecurity, and declining quality of life for most, it's only natural that anxiety and depression would be on the rise.
  - CalRobert 9y ago
    It's remarkable, having moved to the EU, to note that most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US (with the exception of those who want to chase the startup life in SF). A month off a year is pretty nice. I can't imagine going back to a couple weeks a year, or getting guilted for not answering emails on weekends.
    - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
      If you got a couple weeks off a year in the US, you were better off than most[1]. Plus we don't get other basics like maternity or paternity leave. > most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US This points out a big generational divide. There are tons of people doing just fine in the US right now, but they were mostly grandfathered in. The number of jobs available has not been growing with our population, mostly because exploiting globalization and automation are much cheaper ways of growing a company. It's obviously getting to the point that it's creating social instability, though. [1] https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-time-how-do-you-stack-up/ https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-ti...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
spodek 9y ago
Technologists like this community often back up how great things are today by pointing out how even poor people today have material objects that kings couldn't dream of years ago, like big TVs. And yet look at how many people medicate to handle life.
- SamUK96 9y ago
  I think about this a lot. I worry that the people of yesteryear had a simpler and probably tougher life, but a more fulfilling one. Like I always said, a cold beer on a hot day feels so much better when you know you've earned it. Today, do we feel we've earned that big TV, the big car, the free social housing? It's all faceless and non-creative.
- muninn_ 9y ago
  It amounts to a lack of community. Things like Facebook where people spend a stupid amount of their time, disconnect them from their local community and give them a false sense of healthy human relationships. How is it that somebody can have 1000 Facebook friends but not know their next door neighbor?
- Zigurd 9y ago
  Economists really should get on estimating the hedonics of such meds. Every man can afford not to give a damn. True wealth.
- zitterbewegung 9y ago
  Many Poor people (not all let me stress that) today have access to medications that could help them with mood disorders, pain management , and various other medications that Kings could not even dream of years ago.
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
    Sadly, access to medication does not counter all the other issues that are causing a declining quality of life for lower and middle class Americans.
- 9y ago
rdtsc 9y ago
> my thought, they don’t want to be my friend anymore,” she wrote, appending the hashtag #ThisIsWhatAnxietyFeelsLike. No doubt their anguish is real. But reading that from the perspective of someone who is struggling to pay bills, feed a family, or starving leads to a less charitable interpretation. And might fall under the #ThisIsWhatBeingMildyDissapointedFeelsLike tag. Oh and of course they had to mention Trump. Just couldn't resist, it's like they have a quota to fill. And the funny thing is, media like NYT is active participant in feeding and manufacturing that anxiety by reporting how many scoops of ice cream he had or the overextended Russia angle, etc. Yes that will make 37 year old media consultants from NY very anxious, and they will not hesitate to mention it on Twitter to all their followers. I only found a little mention at the bottom about general wealth inequality. How about just about plain ol' poverty, lack of jobs, not being able to provide for a family. That will cause a debilitating and constant anxiety. That is something worth reporting and tweeting about.
- muninn_ 9y ago
  Yeah but reporting on the actual problems in this country instead of Trump tweeting about some people who until a few days ago I had never even heard of doesn't fit the right narrative. Anyway, I'm going to keep trying to teach kids and adults how to write code and keep making sure I vote in my local elections. I'm really disappointed in the media and our government.
kingkawn 9y ago
This is a cultural issue where because of how we conceive of correctness we are trapped in an ever-shrinking emotional range that is more and more distressing yet offers no way out without also giving up the implied right to power that is derived from our sense of achieving authority. Fucked unless we give up on propping up old ideas of the truth and what it's possession implies.

33 points by kawera 9y ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960

kome 9y ago

The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Perhaps like the rest of their healthcare...

PaulHoule 9y ago
Actually benzodiazepine addiction is perceived to be a particularly bad problem in the UK. There is a clinic in Is real that treats a large number of Israelis who allegedly wrecked their nervous system with LSD and are now unfit for the IDF. A clinic in Poland is always treating drunks who drank too much 1-propanol. Benzodiazepines deliver fast relief from anxiety but they interfere with learning and memory. Naturally people can learn how to deal with problems better and maybe therapy can speed up that process. Benzodiazepines throw a monkey wrench into that, but antidepressants do not. That article has a social context on that the news media is benefitting enormously from trump because people keep reading and watching to see what crazy thing trump will say next. CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans.
- rdtsc 9y ago
  > CNN might be negative on trump, but the massive coverage they gave him, driven by a quest for ratings, made him more credible than the other republicans That's kinda my thinking. CNN went so far in backing one candidate and ignoring or negatively covering the others, that if I didn't know any better would have thought they colluded with Trump. That is, by their obvious bias and seeming obsession with Trump, reporting about how many scoops of ice creams he eats, the whole Russia this Russia that narrative, saying stupid stuff like "don't read these documents, it's illegal, come to us for interpretation" they pushed people away and are making Trump look credible.
benevol 9y ago
> Their mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside. Most definitely. But it's just a reflection of how much American culture values money/power/domination. US health-care is simply dominated by a ferocious version of capitalism (which of course includes an overdose of corruption).
TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
The quality of life for most Americans is on the decline, hence why political extremists on both sides were nearly elected(For those outside the US, yes, Sanders is considered an extremist in this country). Workers work more, make less, get treated less well by their employers, have less stability, and simply don't have much free time. Socially, America is losing their identity due to a spreading mentality that social norms are bad for us. We spend time with other people less, have fewer close relationships, and find trouble spending much time with our kids because both parents work. Those who move to big cities from rural areas because the cities are the only places rising economically right now find that they lose the social support and child-rearing support that families provide, but there's not much they can do about that if they want to be okay financially. College is seen as the only avenue of getting out of that rat-race, but with ballooning schooling costs and large time and mental requirements to complete it, it's becoming an option for fewer and fewer people... Then when you do graduate, you're still paid significantly less than graduates 10 years ago. On top of all this, there isn't even healthcare stability. Costs for care and medication are ballooning so high so fast, but it's not like we can do anything about it. Healthcare is a necessity. If you're poor, can't afford insurance, and find yourself with a cut, broken bone, or god forbid cancer, you can't even be sure you'll be able to get care. With all of this instability, insecurity, and declining quality of life for most, it's only natural that anxiety and depression would be on the rise.
- CalRobert 9y ago
  It's remarkable, having moved to the EU, to note that most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US (with the exception of those who want to chase the startup life in SF). A month off a year is pretty nice. I can't imagine going back to a couple weeks a year, or getting guilted for not answering emails on weekends.
  - TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
    If you got a couple weeks off a year in the US, you were better off than most[1]. Plus we don't get other basics like maternity or paternity leave. > most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US This points out a big generational divide. There are tons of people doing just fine in the US right now, but they were mostly grandfathered in. The number of jobs available has not been growing with our population, mostly because exploiting globalization and automation are much cheaper ways of growing a company. It's obviously getting to the point that it's creating social instability, though. [1] https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-time-how-do-you-stack-up/ https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-ti...
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

spodek 9y ago

Technologists like this community often back up how great things are today by pointing out how even poor people today have material objects that kings couldn't dream of years ago, like big TVs. And yet look at how many people medicate to handle life.

SamUK96 9y ago
I think about this a lot. I worry that the people of yesteryear had a simpler and probably tougher life, but a more fulfilling one. Like I always said, a cold beer on a hot day feels so much better when you know you've earned it. Today, do we feel we've earned that big TV, the big car, the free social housing? It's all faceless and non-creative.
muninn_ 9y ago
It amounts to a lack of community. Things like Facebook where people spend a stupid amount of their time, disconnect them from their local community and give them a false sense of healthy human relationships. How is it that somebody can have 1000 Facebook friends but not know their next door neighbor?
Zigurd 9y ago
Economists really should get on estimating the hedonics of such meds. Every man can afford not to give a damn. True wealth.
zitterbewegung 9y ago
Many Poor people (not all let me stress that) today have access to medications that could help them with mood disorders, pain management , and various other medications that Kings could not even dream of years ago.
- TheAdamAndChe 9y ago
  Sadly, access to medication does not counter all the other issues that are causing a declining quality of life for lower and middle class Americans.
9y ago

rdtsc 9y ago

> my thought, they don’t want to be my friend anymore,” she wrote, appending the hashtag #ThisIsWhatAnxietyFeelsLike. No doubt their anguish is real. But reading that from the perspective of someone who is struggling to pay bills, feed a family, or starving leads to a less charitable interpretation. And might fall under the #ThisIsWhatBeingMildyDissapointedFeelsLike tag. Oh and of course they had to mention Trump. Just couldn't resist, it's like they have a quota to fill. And the funny thing is, media like NYT is active participant in feeding and manufacturing that anxiety by reporting how many scoops of ice cream he had or the overextended Russia angle, etc. Yes that will make 37 year old media consultants from NY very anxious, and they will not hesitate to mention it on Twitter to all their followers. I only found a little mention at the bottom about general wealth inequality. How about just about plain ol' poverty, lack of jobs, not being able to provide for a family. That will cause a debilitating and constant anxiety. That is something worth reporting and tweeting about.

muninn_ 9y ago
Yeah but reporting on the actual problems in this country instead of Trump tweeting about some people who until a few days ago I had never even heard of doesn't fit the right narrative. Anyway, I'm going to keep trying to teach kids and adults how to write code and keep making sure I vote in my local elections. I'm really disappointed in the media and our government.

kingkawn 9y ago

This is a cultural issue where because of how we conceive of correctness we are trapped in an ever-shrinking emotional range that is more and more distressing yet offers no way out without also giving up the implied right to power that is derived from our sense of achieving authority. Fucked unless we give up on propping up old ideas of the truth and what it's possession implies.