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Is Depression (and Anxiety Too) a First World Problem?
My parents were kind of poor, lower middle class; my grandparents were poor. My grandparents for their entire life, they only bought things they needed, and nothing that they merely "wanted".
I "escaped" the toxic environment where I grew up, and I loved with undiagnosed Severe Clinical Depression (and crippling Anxiety) practically my entire adult life.
Now that I am Depression-free and my Anxiety is under control, I see the world under a different lens. One things that I see is that my "problems", present and past, are/were mostly "first world problems", and that gives me perspective.
At times I remember what my grandparents used to say to me when I was a teenager, and I can just imaging what they would say about today's society's "problems".
My grandparents were a mixed of minimalism, Zen (they we devout Catholics). They were the embodiments of both "Ora et Labora" and "Chop wood, carry water".
First world problems or first world privileges? two sides of the same coin.
- hhosa 5y agoDoesnt matter what they say and think about your problems, if the problems they experienced through their lives have no overlap with the problems you experience. Your grandkids will grow up in a completely different reality to yours due to how fast the world is changing. When they do come to you with their issues, unless you have life experience solving similar issues, how does it matter what you think or say about their issues?
- PaulHoule 5y agoA few generations ago (most) people did not have to think about what they want to do with their lives because it was decided for them. Today the space of possibilities seems unlimited, people know there are affordances and barriers but not exactly what they are. You can compare yourself to the people around you and reasonably think "I am above their league" and see successful/famous/media people and say "I am below their league" and have no idea who actually is at your level. That task of self-making gives people a lot to be depressed or anxious about. Personally I dislike the phrase "first world problems" because it is dismissive and colonizing: e.g. as a first-worlder I "own" my first-world problems. Third-worlders have third-world problems and they are the ones who decide if the problem is solved or not. First-world people devote their lives to solving third-world problems such as better cooking wood stoves and often wind up with little to show for it because third-world people don't perceive problems the same way. When Bill Gates solves 1st world problems through Microsoft (responsive through the market, being required to pay taxes, file annual reports, etc.) that is much more "real" than the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation which decides on its own what it thinks third-world problems are without decisive input from the third-world.
- sircastor 5y agoI am grossly unqualified to answer with any a amount of expertise. That said, I think there are a few things that contribute to or magnify depression and anxiety in rich countries: Diet and exercise: In the United States at least, we have an abundance of cheap, poor nutrition food. It’s easier to get, and easier to prepare than an appropriately nutritious meal. I’ve been shocked at the effect regular exercise and nutrition have had on my own anxiety and depression. The poor in the country have less time and opportunity to eat well and exercise, and the stress compounds generationally. Cultural expectations and consumerism: Again, in the United States we’ve sold ourselves a vision called “The American Dream” which usually is constructed of home ownership, personal property, and enough money to have both free time and own what you want. This is an increasingly difficult thing for the poor to obtain as property prices increase, wages are (relatively) stagnant, and consumer debt is easy. For the rich, it turns out that money didn’t buy happiness and while your things will fulfill for a little while, that is fleeting. Sense of purpose: There is a prevailing idea that if someone needs are provided for, they will contribute nothing otherwise- they’ll “be lazy”. I think This is untrue, and the reality is that people need a sense of purpose. I think most people want to work, but desperately want to feel like that work is meaningful. For many people, the work they have to do doesn’t feel meaningful, and therefore does not fulfill them. I have a graphic I found somewhere called “Happiness Chemicals and how to get them” which outlines 4 types of chemicals our brain needs (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins) and it reminds me that we all need to have meaningful work, have community, take breaks, and feel secure.
- WheelsAtLarge 5y agoI'm definitely not an expert but I've notice that people I've met that are depressed, seems to me, are depressed because their way of life does not meet the expectations they or the people they admire expect from their lives. One person I have in mind is constantly complaining about how poor they are. Yet they live a lower middle class life. They can get any of the necessities of life with out any trouble. Another one I know talks about how they had a terrible childhood. They were raise by their grandparents in a strict but loving household. The parents were a minor part of their lives. I'm not in their shoes so I don't know what they feel but I wonder if what they feel is more related to the fact that they don't have the perfect lives as projected on popular entertainment. Lives where every one lives like royalty and every one has the perfect family with little effort. They look at the best that's possible and when their real lives fail to meet that then they are depressed since their lives can never be happy with what they have or can attain. I wonder if a lot of depression is based on comparisons to a fictional life that can never be attained yet we see it constantly in popular entertainment. I've read that people that consume a lot of social media are more depressed than those that don't so that gives my idea a little bit or credibility. I don't think it's a first world problem but some of it is a modern life problem where satisfaction is no longer based on reality but on a perfect world that few people can come close to getting. I also believe the there are people that definitely have mental issues that are base on their mental chemistry and need to be helped medically. So like many things there is no one answer.
- SMAAART 5y agoGood comment, thank you. > ...are depressed because their way of life does not meet the expectations... That was definitely me during my depression years; and I see that in my sister too. Of course there's more to the story, but that was a big component; and it doesn't have to be material or big, in my case was the simple habit of expecting perfection at each and every action, and anything short of perfection would be disappointment, sum that up for years/decades and becomes depression with side effects like analysis paralysis....
- readonthegoapp 5y agoi would guess it's more common in the First World. this article talks about how it's not _only_ First Worlds -- which also seems kind of obvious to me -- because i think people been writing about depression for hundreds/thousands of years. (?) https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/30/busting-the-myth-that-depression-doesnt-affect-people-in-poor-countries https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/30/busting-the-... ps you got a 'loved' typo where you meant 'lived'.