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By most of every possible measure, the world was far more messed up in the past. You speak of things like nuclear war causing anxiety, yet 70 years ago kids wou

By most of every possible measure, the world was far more messed up in the past. You speak of things like nuclear war causing anxiety, yet 70 years ago kids would regularly have nuclear attack drills (akin to our fire drills) while watching videos about how to respond to nuclear attacks, and people building nuclear shelters may have been eccentric, but nothing beyond that. Go further back and we get WW2, WW1, Great Depression, Civil War, and so on endlessly. These are all events that make any of our big-event concerns today look trivial. Basically, I don't think you can attribute the skyrocketing rate of various forms of mental illness to better diagnoses. And if big-event stressors (as opposed to things like internet) were the main cause, we should be having far better outcomes than in the past.

romwell 3y ago
>70 years ago kids would regularly have nuclear attack drills (akin to our fire drills) Yes, but the economy was doing better. >Go further back and we get WW2 Before the war, most people were not expecting an apocalypse-level event that it was, and there were no nukes. >These are all events that make any of our big-event concerns today look trivial. You either underestimate today's threats and concerns, aren't affected by them, or both. >Basically, I don't think you can attribute the skyrocketing rate of various forms of mental illness to better diagnoses. That's what I said too. But it is a factor that must be accounted for, especially when comparing to the past when the statistics on mental health were not collected the way they are now. Suicide statistics in particular. >And if big-event stressors (as opposed to things like internet) were the main cause, we should be having far better outcomes than in the past. This doesn't seem to follow from anything you said.
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romwell 3y ago

>70 years ago kids would regularly have nuclear attack drills (akin to our fire drills) Yes, but the economy was doing better. >Go further back and we get WW2 Before the war, most people were not expecting an apocalypse-level event that it was, and there were no nukes. >These are all events that make any of our big-event concerns today look trivial. You either underestimate today's threats and concerns, aren't affected by them, or both. >Basically, I don't think you can attribute the skyrocketing rate of various forms of mental illness to better diagnoses. That's what I said too. But it is a factor that must be accounted for, especially when comparing to the past when the statistics on mental health were not collected the way they are now. Suicide statistics in particular. >And if big-event stressors (as opposed to things like internet) were the main cause, we should be having far better outcomes than in the past. This doesn't seem to follow from anything you said.

deleted 3y ago
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