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In the same way junk food is equivalent to a healthy meal (IMO). There is a reason some mental health issues have been skyrocketing, and this is a big part of i
by lazide 2y ago
In the same way junk food is equivalent to a healthy meal (IMO). There is a reason some mental health issues have been skyrocketing, and this is a big part of it.
- sumeno 2y agoGonna need a citation on this one. Not mental health issues increasing, but online communities being the cause
- lazide 2y agoNot ‘online communities being the cause’, rather ‘lack of genuine in person community and physical connection’ being the cause. Same as junk food isn’t necessarily the cause of health issues - rather lack of enough healthy, not processed to the tits food is the cause. Replacing most/all food intake with junk food is going to be bad. Doing it periodically with enough of the ‘real thing’ to compensate? No issues. The issue is not enough of the real deal. Which is possible until something breaks because of the alternative, but not necessary. If you put someone in a capsule in say Antarctica, and they only communicated with other people via video chat - would anyone be surprised if they went crazy? Hell, I think we’d all be surprised if they didn’t. The challenge right now is a lot of people (including many people here) are de facto in that pod in a way that they can’t see, because theoretically they could walk outside and have conversations, etc. They just won’t actually do it, because there are less visible factors pushing them away - factors that in many cases they aren’t allowed to see or acknowledge.
- redserk 2y agoMy coworkers are extremely wonderful people, however we aren’t friends. It is possible, and in many places quite easy, to make local friends without relying on coworkers. Facebook Groups has been very helpful to find local groups.
- lazide 2y agoIt’s also entirely possible, even in the worst ‘food deserts’ to drive to a grocery store and make home cooked food. It’s also pretty easy to demonstrate how there is a direct relationship between how hard that is to do, and obesity and bad health outcomes.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- consteval 2y ago> rather ‘lack of genuine in person community and physical connection’ being the cause Yes, caused by toxic corporate culture and the modern American work week. There are no third spaces because everyone is busy working, and we all hate the people we work with. When people say "community", your corporate hell-hole should be the absolute last thing to enter your mind. The fact it's what you turn to and long for really highlights the problem. We've destroyed communities and conned the average joe into thinking work life is their life. Their family. Now we take that away and they're nothing. The problem isn't the taking away, the problem is getting to a point where the only thing standing between happiness and being a loser is asking how the weather is going by the water cooler.
- lazide 2y agoIf you think American corporate culture is bad on that front, Japanese, Korean, and Indian work culture is 10x worse (on average). Seriously.
- aaomidi 2y ago[flagged]
- s1artibartfast 2y agoWhat about an unprecedented epidemic of loneliness?
- aaomidi 2y agoAgain, correlation not causation.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoThere is a vast body of literature that shows that in person interactions is not just correlated with happiness, but an effective intervention for loneliness and depression. In full disclosure, even setting aside the research, I have way too much anecdotal evidence from what I have seen and experienced to be convinced otherwise.
- rockskon 2y agoDoes that body of literature say anything about in-person interactions in the workplace? Specifically the workplace. An environment that a breathtaking number of people do not want to think one second about outside of work.
- s1artibartfast 2y agoI havent read about workplace interactions as an intervention for loneliness and depression. It would be hard to run a RCT on that, so you would only be left with correlation. I dont know why making it a more pleasant experience during work has anything to do with how much someone thinks about it outside of work.
- rockskon 2y ago
- icehawk 2y agoOh that started way before COVID.