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I recall seeing commentary recently from mental health specialists that noted that young people are increasingly facing a sense of existential dread over climat
by sircastor 4y ago
I recall seeing commentary recently from mental health specialists that noted that young people are increasingly facing a sense of existential dread over climate change - that there's nothing they can do to stop it, and will feel the impact more heavily than previous generations.
I wouldn't discount social media and related issues out of hand, but I wouldn't be surprised if that's a contributing factor. I understand there was a similar sentiment in the 70s and 80s where there was a certainty that nuclear war was going to happen.
- erfgh 4y agoWhere do you live where young people give a damn about the climate? I find this amazing.
- jimhefferon 4y agoI'm a college professor in VT. They care a lot around here, anyway.
- version_five 4y agoExistential dread over climate change is a symptom, not a cause of mental health problems.
- Daishiman 4y agoWhy would this be? It is obvious the existentially complicated things create anxiety.
- majormajor 4y agoIs that obvious? Or do the immediate, simple things - I have to see everyone at school tomorrow and they all think [something bad about me] - create anxiety more? I think it's probably easier to distract yourself from "ice is going to melt into the ocean and kill a bunch of people eventually" than from "people are having fun and didn't invite me RIGHT NOW"
- naasking 4y agoLearned helplessness is a thing that leads to depression, and depression in turns demotivates and deepens sense of helplessness. They do mutually reinforce, and either could be the starting point.
- ccity88 4y agoYou don't just develop existential dread about climate change out of nowhere. First comes awareness, in this case the younger generation grew up being educated about climate change. Then you get exacerbation/increased attention - in this case social media and traditional media which have fuelled doomsday rhetoric and alarmism in general. Not to say that it isn't a big issue, it's massive; but doesn't help that we're feeding young minds with constant negative stimuli about how we're all going to die and there's nothing we can do about the problem.
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- ipaddr 4y agoThere is a big divide between the young who think the world is over climate and the older who know better
- carimura 4y agonow imagine spamming their phones with tik tok videos about the end of the world due to ____________. In your example, it's climate change. Maybe it's that, but it could also be that we can now mainline hours and hours of highly provocative content directly into a growing brain.
- stuaxo 4y agoWe grew up with the threat of nuclear destruction, as well as global warming, in the 1980s.
- evanmoran 4y agoWe did, but we didn't have endless short videos to scroll through.
- zamnos 4y agoYeah, instead we had our teachers reassure us that if we saw a nuclear explosion that we should hid under our desks and that would protect us. We ran drills practicing this, as if it were expected to happen any moment now. I agree with you that it's worse these days. Now, the kids practice active shooter drills. It turns out the USSR never did launch the missiles, but kids shooting up their school is so common it barely makes the news anymore.
- joenot443 4y agoThe example you're referencing was mentioned in the article, and I think is part of the reason Haidt took the time to prove that this phenomenon is _not_ isolated to the US, and that US specific issues (like school shootings) are unlikely to have an effect elsewhere. > And it certainly can’t be caused by the most popular theory we hear in the USA: school shootings and other stress-inducing events. Why would school shootings or active shooter drills implemented only in the USA lead to an immediate epidemic across the entire English-speaking world?
- mantas 4y ago
- dumbaccount123 4y agoI care more about hypergamy and dying alone than climate change as a young person.
- tempsy 4y agoNo you read that from a "some experts are saying" article.
- Aunche 4y agoThe evolutionary purpose of dread is to motivate people to leave dangerous situations. When you hear about people surviving dangerous animal encounters, they tend to notice that something is "off" before they actually spot the hungry bear or mountain lion. Feeling dread for something you can't control is completely irrational, however. It's inevitable that you'll succumb to age related illness, so it's logical to be concerned about it to a certain extent, and it can be good to channel that into motivating you to be healthy. However, the fear of death is motivating you to doomscroll WebMD and causing pain in your daily life, you have a psychological problem. The same goes for human climate change. Unless if you live in a place like Micronesia, climate doomerism is a product of social media more than actual climate change.
- ouid 4y agoComing to the conclusion that there is nothing you can do serves no evolutionary purpose either. You should continue looking for an out as long as any possibility remains, no matter how remote.
- Aunche 4y agoWhat gave you the impression that I think nothing can be done? You can drive less, eat less meat, vote for certain politicians etc. What's a waste of mental energy is worrying that everyone else is going to do the same thing. This is often counterproductive to the problem it's trying to solve, like Greta Thunberg inspiring millions of kids to skip school in the name of "raising awareness."
- ouid 4y agoWhat do you think mental energy is for? If none of those things seems like solutions to the existential threat, which, let's be honest, they don't. Then the problem is not yet solved. In any robust system, components are responsible for more than just their own personal contribution to failure. There needs to be a certain amount of redundancy. Convincing other people to care more about climate change, and to be more willing to force society into common sacrifices for aggregate benefit takes a lot of footwork. It is not mental illness to participate in this process.
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