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I'm sure daily disaster/apocalyptic news don't help.

by tux 4y ago

rhaway84773 4y ago
Except daily disaster news has existed for decades. At least since the first gulf war, and probably hit its peak post 9/11. This was a time where most news broadcasts led with a freaking color coded terror alert, as if it was the weather. And yet the 2000s, which saw 9/11 as well as the biggest financial crisis since WW2, didn’t see the rapid increase in suicidal thoughts in teens, especially girls, that we saw in the past decade.
- tux 4y ago
  Yes but I think internet population [1] changed all this. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/209117/us-internet-penetration/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/209117/us-internet-penet...
- Barrin92 4y ago
  Science supports this. There is an observable decline of suicides during wars. https://academic.oup.com/book/24371/chapter-abstract/187259261 https://academic.oup.com/book/24371/chapter-abstract/1872592... Some of the most common phrases occuring in communication by men have committed suicide are "useless" and "worthless". I think you can go quite a bit further and say that not only is disaster not the reason for the bad mental situation but potentially the opposite, there isn't enough of it. Mental health issues and suicide rates around the world are persistently high in affluent and safe societies. South Korea ranks fourth highest, Syria 7th lowest. the USA, Germany, Finland, Sweden rank way above countries in the MENA region.
- noahtallen 4y ago
  Totally, but this is about what news and media teens are accessing and looking at constantly. In the 2000s, was that really a thing? Even so, reading the paper, watching news on TV, reading website on your desktop or laptop… these don’t follow you into your other activities. And you don’t do that for four hours a day as a teenager. I bet most teens would flip the channel if they sat down and the news was on. But you can’t just flip the channel like that any more. Now, you’re consuming media feeds which are algorithmically designed to keep them engaged for hours on end, which in turn means feeding them rage-inducing topics. It doesn’t seem like the negative media itself is the problem, but the fact that phones and social media make it a prevalent part of daily life.

I'm sure daily disaster/apocalyptic news don't help.

by tux 4y ago

I'm sure daily disaster/apocalyptic news don't help.

Except daily disaster news has existed for decades. At least since the first gulf war, and probably hit its peak post 9/11. This was a time where most news broadcasts led with a freaking color coded terror alert, as if it was the weather. And yet the 2000s, which saw 9/11 as well as the biggest financial crisis since WW2, didn’t see the rapid increase in suicidal thoughts in teens, especially girls, that we saw in the past decade.

tux 4y ago
Yes but I think internet population [1] changed all this. [1] https://www.statista.com/statistics/209117/us-internet-penetration/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/209117/us-internet-penet...
Barrin92 4y ago
Science supports this. There is an observable decline of suicides during wars. https://academic.oup.com/book/24371/chapter-abstract/187259261 https://academic.oup.com/book/24371/chapter-abstract/1872592... Some of the most common phrases occuring in communication by men have committed suicide are "useless" and "worthless". I think you can go quite a bit further and say that not only is disaster not the reason for the bad mental situation but potentially the opposite, there isn't enough of it. Mental health issues and suicide rates around the world are persistently high in affluent and safe societies. South Korea ranks fourth highest, Syria 7th lowest. the USA, Germany, Finland, Sweden rank way above countries in the MENA region.
noahtallen 4y ago
Totally, but this is about what news and media teens are accessing and looking at constantly. In the 2000s, was that really a thing? Even so, reading the paper, watching news on TV, reading website on your desktop or laptop… these don’t follow you into your other activities. And you don’t do that for four hours a day as a teenager. I bet most teens would flip the channel if they sat down and the news was on. But you can’t just flip the channel like that any more. Now, you’re consuming media feeds which are algorithmically designed to keep them engaged for hours on end, which in turn means feeding them rage-inducing topics. It doesn’t seem like the negative media itself is the problem, but the fact that phones and social media make it a prevalent part of daily life.