>Because as far as I can tell, conditions in the world are better than ever before but I have all these signals telling me that I’m totally wrong about it: I’m

>Because as far as I can tell, conditions in the world are better than ever before but I have all these signals telling me that I’m totally wrong about it: I’m surrounded by fear and anger and depression. I have a hypothesis comprised of two ideas. First, people have been encouraged more than ever to be expressive of their feeling and emotional states. That's the same reason there's a lot of self-deprecating humor with Millennials and Zoomers: it's a way to publicly cope with how you feel while also signalling to others that while everything isn't perfectly alright, let's laugh about it. Second, people reacting to current events expresses feelings towards a particular thing. It is not necessarily an overall indicator of mood or mental health. I'm happy that it's my birthday. I'm upset that the other team won the championship. I'm sad that my grandmother died. Those things tend to be temporary emotions. I'm personally am upset with a lot of things the current US administration does, but it does not reflect my overall status. As I've seen explained: you can cure being alone by leaving your room and taking a stroll in a park; you can be lonely while surrounded by friends and family at your own birthday party.