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"The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation." - Henry David Thoreau, 1954. It's nothing new.
You sure that wasn't 1854?
But I think it is new, just something that arose from urban lifestyle. In the Elizabethian and Jacobean eras, it would have posssibly been the witch terrors that were the manifestation.
But I think it is new, just something that arose from urban lifestyle. In the Elizabethian and Jacobean eras, it would have posssibly been the witch terrors that were the manifestation.
Yes, thanks. Typo
I suppose it depends how you define "new." Maybe "not a recent development" would have been more accurate to say.
If I understand JrzDefector correctly he/she is speculating that anxiety or watchfulness for survival's sake has always been with animals as an instinct. But now that we are in many ways safer than mankind has ever been we have no emotional/physical outlet for the kind of emotion it creates in us. Hmm. Maybe that's why all the drama online? LOL
Another way to say that would be that background anxiety is a natural state. That's something I'd like to think about.
Maybe there is also a political influence. We no longer go around bopping people on the head and conquering new lands boasting about how strong and powerful we are. The correct stance today, at least for Americans, is a false humility. We moan over our "sins" of past deed and talk constantly about how we are still doing all the wrong things. Too much of this has to translate psychologically to the individual not feeling good in himself.
I am horrified at how lowly so many hold their lives in esteem and the resulting suicide epidemic.
Reading this thread, it seems a bit like the three blind men and the elephant parable. There is no one correct answer because no one is looking at the full picture - but you can see it emerging, slowly, through the joint effort.
Thoreau was living at a time when the fruits of the industrial revolution were just beginning to ripen - a period of technological advancement that lead to population growth, widespread lifestyle changes and cultural shifts. It is not over, but compounding, and perhaps beginning to disintegrate (look how long it took Rome to fall. Massive societal shifts aren't seen within one generation. That so many people assume these things should be quick and easy to identify with no relationship to history is another sign of disintegration, to me). Thoreau was far ahead of his time in pointing out the downsides of our current paradigm. I wonder what he'd think if he were alive today. Everything he despised about society has become even more acute (He also advocated that people look to nature and spend time outdoors).
Quote:
Originally Posted by nobodysbusiness
Disagree with those who say there are not more people claiming this problem today.
There are probably a myriad of factors contributing:
* Life is hard. Some people have a problem accepting this.
* Living in the present moment means you have to accept everything that is happening, and again, many people have a problem doing this (anxiety is living in the future - not accepting what is happening. Depression is being resentful about your life circumstances (note that most people who claim to be depressed have a palpable anger/resentment).
* Many people feel entitled and when they can't get their way switch to "victim" - victims are never responsible for themselves - they claim that they have a "chemical imbalance" (this has been disproven in the literature, but the big pharma marketing was so good that the masses still believe this lie that was created to create a market for anti-depressants (which often don't work or have black box warnings, etc.)
* There are a ton of natural remedies for whatever ails you, but some people are too indoctrinated by mainstream culture to even consider doing a google search and trying x, y, or z).
* etc., etc.
I agree with what you say here, but I should add some nuances to the bolded statement...
I was diagnosed with depression when I was 12 years old. I struggled with that ever since - not with the depression, but with how I was treated by doctors. They gave me the chemical imbalance spiel, but it did the opposite of what you say - I came to the conclusion that I was personally responsible for everything because it was my biology to blame instead of circumstances. When they couldn't "cure" me with drugs, I thought I must be irrecoverably broken. They kept increasing dosages to the point that I became psychotic. My mother finally had enough and took me off them. The psychosis disappeared immediately.
The entire reason for my depression was feeling unsafe and out of control of my life after domestic abuse and homelessness. It's hard for me to reconcile this idea of personal responsibility and victimhood concerning mental illness when it involves a child (and children are very often medicated). To drive it home, I was given anti-depressants when I was 15 and living in the street (through welfare, of course!). That is a massive failing of society, in my book. Whether corruption, ineptitude, a lack of resources, or a combination... I would never put myself in the hands of the psychiatric industry again.
Uh, yeah, it was definitely a thing 10,20, 30,40, 50, 60,70, 80,90 years ago. I kept adding decades as I thought back along my family tree to all the folks who were alcoholics, recluses, odd characters, curmudgeons, etc.
Of course people were anxious and depressed. They just had different ways of managing or not managing it.
Believe me, if my grandmother could have been medicated for her bipolar disorder, she would have. It would have saved us all a lot of grief.
For those of you who have been around for a while, have you noticed than in today's world that depression and anxiety is so common? I look at my current situation:
My mother is depressed and anxious. Four of my best friends are dealing with anxiety and depression. I can continue on with how many more people I know in that situation. It just seems like it's grown so much in some of the last few years.
It seems like so many people nowadays need validation, have very low self esteem, are insecure or overworked. Part of it makes me sad to see this, and I try to help as I can, but it just feels as if a lot of people are suffering now. I am 33 and 10 years ago, I felt like things were different and people weren't like this.
What gives? I wonder if this is how it's always been and I am just noticing now, or if we really have seen in the past decade an increase in depression and anxiety?
I think social media and the media in general play a big part in today's society. Lots of negativity around these days and a lot of people just seem to be hostile. I have a few people I know personally that are constantly glued to social media and "the news" and their health has deteriorated significantly over the past couple of years. They always bring up the same hackneyed negative political talking points they hear on their favorite TV shows, and they can't seem to break away from that line of thinking......
Too many people crowded together. It can't be sustained without frustration, depression, anger, fear etc. Government sucks. Negativity just naturally turns people against each other when 1% to 5% of the people have just about everything and the rest have to fight over the little bit that is left.
Reading this thread, it seems a bit like the three blind men and the elephant parable. There is no one correct answer because no one is looking at the full picture - but you can see it emerging, slowly, through the joint effort.
Thoreau was living at a time when the fruits of the industrial revolution were just beginning to ripen - a period of technological advancement that lead to population growth, widespread lifestyle changes and cultural shifts. It is not over, but compounding, and perhaps beginning to disintegrate (look how long it took Rome to fall. Massive societal shifts aren't seen within one generation. That so many people assume these things should be quick and easy to identify with no relationship to history is another sign of disintegration, to me). Thoreau was far ahead of his time in pointing out the downsides of our current paradigm. I wonder what he'd think if he were alive today. Everything he despised about society has become even more acute (He also advocated that people look to nature and spend time outdoors).
I agree with what you say here, but I should add some nuances to the bolded statement...
I was diagnosed with depression when I was 12 years old. I struggled with that ever since - not with the depression, but with how I was treated by doctors. They gave me the chemical imbalance spiel, but it did the opposite of what you say - I came to the conclusion that I was personally responsible for everything because it was my biology to blame instead of circumstances. When they couldn't "cure" me with drugs, I thought I must be irrecoverably broken. They kept increasing dosages to the point that I became psychotic. My mother finally had enough and took me off them. The psychosis disappeared immediately.
The entire reason for my depression was feeling unsafe and out of control of my life after domestic abuse and homelessness. It's hard for me to reconcile this idea of personal responsibility and victimhood concerning mental illness when it involves a child (and children are very often medicated). To drive it home, I was given anti-depressants when I was 15 and living in the street (through welfare, of course!). That is a massive failing of society, in my book. Whether corruption, ineptitude, a lack of resources, or a combination... I would never put myself in the hands of the psychiatric industry again.
Wow. This is very interesting. You have great strength (to resist the status quo as much as you could) and for surviving whatever you have survived.
The drug psychosis is interesting to me because I studied Arnold Mindell, Stanislaus Groff, and lots of others who view altered states (as psychosis is) different from the mainstream understandings. Groff had an institute of Spiritual Emergence and studied the state of "spiritual emergency" (your psychosis, under the circumstances, could easily be seen that way).
Some other psychiatrists/psychologists did some groundbreaking work (I can never remember their names) on observing people in mental hospitals (as opposed to medicating them).
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