5 ms·

My Sister-In-Law is a counselor at an elementary school in the Chicago area with one other counselor sharing the caseload, she's been working almost a decade.

My Sister-In-Law is a counselor at an elementary school in the Chicago area with one other counselor sharing the caseload, she's been working almost a decade. Before the pandemic, roughly 10% of students at her school came and went through her office seeking mental health treatment. After the pandemic and school reconvened, that number shot up to about 70% of students and has now leveled out around 50% and held steady for the last year. Of course, being a public school district, they couldn't afford to bring on additional caseworkers, so she's having to ration her schedule to see as many students as she can. And the stories she's getting from her kids are often pretty terrible (lots of alcoholism and domestic-violence related issues). I read stories like this and it's completely unsurprising to see. Between the trauma of the pandemic, endless school shootings and a future that looks increasingly uncertain ecologically and economically, I get it. Who among us honestly wishes they were a kid in this world in this time? I thank my lucky stars every day that I'm not.

rqtwteye 4y ago
I think it’s also become much more acceptable to seek help for mental issues. When I look back at my school days there were a lot of people who had mental problems. Including me. But there was nowhere to go
- brucethemoose2 4y ago
  Bingo. I personally knew of awful situations among classmates (not to speak of my own issues) that they never seeked help for, and I'm sure thats just a tiny fraction of what was going on. Maybe there was somewhere to go, but therapy and counselors were not part of the culture.
tlear 4y ago
[flagged]
- brailsafe 4y ago
  How can you start by saying the pandemic screwed them over, and then claim they could have it so much worse so stop complaining? I hate this attitude, it seems very Gen X to me. The fact that you can point to any arbitrary decade and find somewhere in the world with arguably more volatile circumstances isn't a reason to discourage people from being open about what they're struggling with, especially because during those times, the problems were just different. Are we regularly under threat from being nuked? Probably not. Are kids still growing up impoverished in violent and/or abusive households? Absolutely. Even in the last 10 years, prospects for having a relatively stable life have become a lot more grim, for adults, and that has a lot of carryover to kids
andrei_says_ 4y ago
In hindsight if social media in its current state was around when I was a kid I would’ve had a very, very hard time.
zeeshanmh215 4y ago
That last line makes me so sad. It also boils down to where you live. You can live in countries like china or some arab > asian > european countries and have a better life
incone123 4y ago
Do you know if the proportion of reports of alcoholism and domestic violence is holding steady? I'm interested in separating traumatic environments from the normalisation of seeking help for universal stressors like exam season. (I do not intend to imply that people don't need help for exam stress)
joshuahedlund 4y ago
> Who among us honestly wishes they were a kid in this world in this time? Is there any time in history that would have been better though?
seandoe 4y ago
I disagree. When considering a broader timeline, we live in a time of extraordinary wealth, safety, and ease (especially in the west). It just happens that these things don't necessarily make us happy or even mentally healthy. Media channels constantly pump us with negativity-- fear, jealousy, and hatred of the other. I think most people just need a serious attitude adjustment. Life isn't easy no matter how many luxuries you have. Everything is likely doomed when considering the larger timeline. Suck it up and make your world a better place.
- giraffe_lady 4y ago
  No one's emotional state considers a broader timeline though. Yes outlook and expectation are important to wellbeing but you can't reason or bully yourself into being happy when you aren't. Whether it's true or not, in this time there is a pervasive feeling of hopelessness and impending doom. These things aren't unique to our time, other people have rightfully felt them. But also we do feel them now, even if you think we shouldn't, even if the data, when looked at in a certain way, indicates we shouldn't. My limbic system just doesn't care.

rqtwteye 4y ago

I think it’s also become much more acceptable to seek help for mental issues. When I look back at my school days there were a lot of people who had mental problems. Including me. But there was nowhere to go

brucethemoose2 4y ago
Bingo. I personally knew of awful situations among classmates (not to speak of my own issues) that they never seeked help for, and I'm sure thats just a tiny fraction of what was going on. Maybe there was somewhere to go, but therapy and counselors were not part of the culture.

tlear 4y ago

[flagged]

brailsafe 4y ago
How can you start by saying the pandemic screwed them over, and then claim they could have it so much worse so stop complaining? I hate this attitude, it seems very Gen X to me. The fact that you can point to any arbitrary decade and find somewhere in the world with arguably more volatile circumstances isn't a reason to discourage people from being open about what they're struggling with, especially because during those times, the problems were just different. Are we regularly under threat from being nuked? Probably not. Are kids still growing up impoverished in violent and/or abusive households? Absolutely. Even in the last 10 years, prospects for having a relatively stable life have become a lot more grim, for adults, and that has a lot of carryover to kids

andrei_says_ 4y ago

In hindsight if social media in its current state was around when I was a kid I would’ve had a very, very hard time.

zeeshanmh215 4y ago

That last line makes me so sad. It also boils down to where you live. You can live in countries like china or some arab > asian > european countries and have a better life

incone123 4y ago

Do you know if the proportion of reports of alcoholism and domestic violence is holding steady? I'm interested in separating traumatic environments from the normalisation of seeking help for universal stressors like exam season. (I do not intend to imply that people don't need help for exam stress)

joshuahedlund 4y ago

> Who among us honestly wishes they were a kid in this world in this time? Is there any time in history that would have been better though?

seandoe 4y ago

I disagree. When considering a broader timeline, we live in a time of extraordinary wealth, safety, and ease (especially in the west). It just happens that these things don't necessarily make us happy or even mentally healthy. Media channels constantly pump us with negativity-- fear, jealousy, and hatred of the other. I think most people just need a serious attitude adjustment. Life isn't easy no matter how many luxuries you have. Everything is likely doomed when considering the larger timeline. Suck it up and make your world a better place.

giraffe_lady 4y ago
No one's emotional state considers a broader timeline though. Yes outlook and expectation are important to wellbeing but you can't reason or bully yourself into being happy when you aren't. Whether it's true or not, in this time there is a pervasive feeling of hopelessness and impending doom. These things aren't unique to our time, other people have rightfully felt them. But also we do feel them now, even if you think we shouldn't, even if the data, when looked at in a certain way, indicates we shouldn't. My limbic system just doesn't care.