5 ms·
I would wager it's a combination of factors: 1. In general, the north american diet is disgraceful. 2. Consumerism and brainwashing people into believing that
by balabaster 7y ago
I would wager it's a combination of factors:
1. In general, the north american diet is disgraceful.
2. Consumerism and brainwashing people into believing that they can only be happy when they achieve X, Y or Z, does nothing for people's emotional emptiness.
3. The constant barrage of shit news, most of which is largely irrelevant to most of our lives, most of the time.
4. The constant threat of automation and off-shoring meaning that people never feel secure about their income stream unless they specifically work in an industry where their ability to generate their income stream is unrelated to these constant threats.
5. Inflation of living costs escalating at a rate beyond inflation of income.
6. The polarization making people feel isolated from one another instead of connected. Nobody can talk about anything any more without fear of offending someone, being politically incorrect, being ostracized or vilified.
7. The reported growing financial disparity where the 2% have 98% of the wealth while the 98% share the other 2% and the constant message that it's only going to get harder to be able to cross that chasm.
8. Corporations subverting politics for their own profits instead of the good of the people.
The list goes on ad nauseum.
I firmly believe if the world stops behaving like assholes, learns to eat properly and talks to one another to a level that find connection instead of a divide. The depression is just going to get worse and worse until suicide becomes an epidemic.
- DoreenMichele 7y agoI would add at least two more that I think are huge and largely overlooked most of the time: a. Loss of a sense of community and the very real practical support that provides with moving from small town/rural to big city life for most people. b. "Sick building syndrome" which I think is far, far more widespread than is generally recognized. Among other things, indoor air quality is crap more often than not.
- dTal 7y agoI agree and think these actually enormously overshadow all of the previously mentioned factors except maybe diet. We weren't meant to live out our lives in seas of isolated little poorly ventilated boxes.
- DoreenMichele 7y agoSleeping in a tent for nearly six years actually did my health a world of good. It also dramatically changed my perspective on the state of housing in modern America and its relationship to myriad problems, including health issues, in ways that aren't likely to be taken seriously by most people any time soon. When I comment on such things, it typically gets downvotes and/or snarky, dismissive replies and personal attacks.
- dTal 7y agoI'd always been dimly aware that I always woke up feeling more refreshed in a tent, but it wasn't until fairly recently that I noticed I got the same effect if I slept with the window open. Now I keep my bedroom window open at all times. In general, I think society is extremely blase about possible health hazards - if it doesn't kill you instantly, people basically don't wanna know. Alcohol is huge. Smoking is even now considered basically fine by huge swathes of the population. It wasn't until 1996 that leaded gasoline was banned in the US, two decades after lead paint was banned. We tolerate absurd levels of pollution in cities, with not much more than a shrug. For almost any given product and interaction, you can ask yourself "is there a powerful incentive structure in place to prevent this from invisibly but seriously harming me"? Usually, the answer is "no". It's up to you to pay attention, and ignore what society thinks is okay. Ancient Romans would consider you a sissy snowflake to avoid their lead pipes - modern society will consider you likewise, if you go out of your way to be healthy. If you don't feel like a sissy snowflake - you're probably being poisoned.
- ipython 7y agoSorry that I'm focusing on one small part of your comment, but I'm genuinely curious - do you find you have the same effect if, say, you force your whole house fan to run at least five or ten minutes out of every hour? I find that fresh air helps too, but during the winter I can't convince myself to "waste" money heating the house while at the same time leaving a window wide open letting the cold back in... BTW I don't think smoking is considered 'fine' by any stretch - at least where I live in the US. All restaurants/bars are non-smoking, and the only place my kids have encountered smokers has been when we travel in Europe.
- lazyeye 7y agoAnother one. We now have a much higher exposure to blue light messing up our circadian rhythm. Sleep is incredibly important for health and wellbeing.
- pmoriarty 7y agoSomething else to consider is that a lot of people live in food deserts, where no nutritional food is available or affordable. People who live in such food deserts often have low incomes, so they really don't have a choice but to have a really awful diet. Richer people tend to have greater, more convenient choices of nutritional food, and the wealth to afford it. Add to that the fact that many people in the US work insanely long hours in unfulfilling or even demeaning work, little free time to spend with their families, on leisure, or to recover from burnout, possibly mounting medical and credit card bills, little hope for a secure retirement, their children at risk of violence in schools and few prospects when (or if) they graduate. Add in the media which worships wealth, fame, and appearances, and you have almost a sure fire recipe for depression. It's really a wonder more people aren't depressed.