I think it's a combination of a few things: 1. It's that post-college freak out that many many young people have ("What am I doing with my life!"). 2. Many pe

I think it's a combination of a few things: 1. It's that post-college freak out that many many young people have ("What am I doing with my life!"). 2. Many people who jump into startup life let the demands of the job strip them of their old healthy habits (like eating well, working out, drinking rarely, hanging out with friends) and this compounds their anxiety and depression. 3. It's not particularly socially acceptable to cry for help in person. While we're totally used to seeing it on HN I can't remember the last time I heard of anybody at a startup being candid with their coworkers about their depression. You can often tell it's happening to someone, but nobody talks about it. Which only makes people feel more isolated and depressed. But all those things have been constants...nothing is new about them. Why are we seeing the posts becoming more frequent now? I think it's just that people are becoming more comfortable with expressing their feelings online. I don't think more people are stressed, just that more people are talking about it...and this is the medium in which it's okay to do that in 2015. Hopefully 2016 will be different, hopefully it will become more and more acceptable to have those conversations in person.