With teen mental health deteriorating over five years, there's a likely culprit

[ErraticFaith]

People. Like war they never change.

Things seem more prevalent because, as technology improves , information is far more readily accessible. Yet guidance and the means in which to handle that overload isn’t.

Along side it, the worlds population growth is accelerating. In a short way of putting it; the number of haves and have nots becomes unsettled.

Whilst the general standard of comfort and living has increased (a generally well received change) the gap between the classes has now become ‘celebrity - or not.’

And some people can’t handle the idea of being powerless in a world that envies, idolises and glorifies fame.

Whilst things may seem different to the eye of the old and young. It’s a matter of subjective illusion.

People never change. Original sin still pervades the earth. It grows, as the number of us grows.

As for the technology, none can deny its effect on the minds of society. But truth is, much like the Gun issue in America. A gun is just an inanimate tool. Devoid of life. What people do with it is a choice. And in that way, the world is as it was and will be until the end.

 

[michaelArc]

I agree. Remember about a decade ago,when the power grid went down all along the East coast?

I was living in major city, people had to walk home from work because there were no cabs available, and the trams were down. People took it upon themselves to direct traffic, others came out of their homes to offer water to people walking. Bank machines and grocery stores were emptied but there was nothing but good will among everyone. Ever since then, I was an advocate for having Blackout Day. Just turn everything off.

There are several studies that point to how screen time can be be a trigger for depression. Just unplug for a day and see what happens.

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

I agree. Remember about a decade ago,when the power grid went down all along the East coast?

I was living in major city, people had to walk home from work because there were no cabs available, and the trams were down. People took it upon themselves to direct traffic, others came out of their homes to offer water to people walking. Bank machines and grocery stores were emptied but there was nothing but good will among everyone. Ever since then, I was an advocate for having Blackout Day. Just turn everything off.

There are several studies that point to how screen time can be be a trigger for depression. Just unplug for a day and see what happens.

Being in a major city is TOTALLY different than being in a rural area. Without power one is even more isolated, rather than brought together.

 

[michaelArc]

Well naturally I would advocate to do this voluntarily. We have Earth Day but the novelty has sort of worn out.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I think at least part, if not all, of the “rise in depression” has to do with there being a greater openness about people admitting they have a mental condition, such as depression, and seeking help for it. In the past, many people including young people would not admit they were having depression because there was a stigma to it. If they did say they had it, their parents and others in charge would often deny it, hush it up, pooh pooh it as growing pains, etc. because they either didn’t take it seriously or were afraid of stigma.

 

[RoseScented]

Being in a major city is TOTALLY different than being in a rural area. Without power one is even more isolated, rather than brought together.

More isolated -yes, that being a problem - not necessarily.

I grew up in a rural area. We lost power for a week due to snow and ice once. Other than the fact that we knew how to handle not having power (tucked things that needed to stay frozen in an ice/snow cave, had a woodstove which we cooked on, tub filled with water to use a bucket for flushing, oil lamps for doing anything after dark, etc.), the local farmers and people with bigger trucks drove around helping dig people out because the city took too long to get out there. We’d pass along which routes into town were more driveable than others if we had that info.

For us there was a different sense of “being brought together” because in general life just went on and everyone knew how to handle being prepared to have no power; so the togetherness just happened in more communication with each other when necessary. There was enough to do with schoolwork, reading, other hands-on hobbies to not be bored without the Internet/TV. The power was out, so what? The fire wood still needed to be hauled in to keep the house warm, the home cleaning still needed to be done and you could be more meticulous, making sure you were prepared before-hand and continued to have what you needed still needed to happen. A priority was placed on both digging out to the road and making sure you had your bigger vehicle ready to get out if an emergency happened. It might be different in other rural areas, but the one I grew up in didn’t need to come together much with the power out because we were already used to doing a lot that didn’t require power in the first place. There were slower times when normally we check something on TV, but that was just converted to family time or reading. shrug It all depends on what you’re used to I guess. It would also probably depend on if you live alone and can handle all the things that need to be done, or if you can’t (due to not know, or some form of physical disability) then having the rural support would need to be more direct and involved.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

There are several studies that point to how screen time can be be a trigger for depression. Just unplug for a day and see what happens.

I’ve done this when I go hiking or on vacation and don’t have Internet for a couple of days, or when i was so busy with family responsibilities I did not have time to be on, or when the computer was broken in the days before I had multiple laptops and cell phones.

Honestly, nothing happens except I get behind on my bills, work and correspondence. I don’t suddenly feel all zingy and happy because I spent a day off the Internet. I may feel happy because I had fun on vacation or on my hike, but that’s not because the Internet was shut off. If somebody is going to be that affected by whether or not they are plugged or unplugged, I’d say they should probably just not be online.

 

[Xanthippe_Voorhees]

shrug It all depends on what you’re used to I guess. It would also probably depend on if you live alone and can handle all the things that need to be done, or if you can’t (due to not know, or some form of physical disability) then having the rural support would need to be more direct and involved.

My point is that while in a city the major draw for these power-outage advocates is that more people communicated, it really doesn’t translate well into rural areas. Like you said people are more independent and there may be a bit more communication but, really, life just goes on. We didn’t have snow during the recent 3-day power outage in my area–and really–we went out less because no one had power.

 

[RoseScented]

RoseScented:

shrug It all depends on what you’re used to I guess. It would also probably depend on if you live alone and can handle all the things that need to be done, or if you can’t (due to not know, or some form of physical disability) then having the rural support would need to be more direct and involved.

My point is that while in a city the major draw for these power-outage advocates is that more people communicated, it really doesn’t translate well into rural areas. Like you said people are more independent and there may be a bit more communication but, really, life just goes on. We didn’t have snow during the recent 3-day power outage in my area–and really–we went out less because no one had power.

Yeah, the communication thing has always been an odd argument for me, though I can see where people can get that view. Most of the advocates I’ve met have wanted it not from a communication point of view, but just from letting people figure out what they can do offline/no TV/no phone (unless you have a true landline that still works when the power’s out). The main people I’ve met for the communication point of view have been focused on inter-family communication instead of community communication. The inter-family argument I can see, because the power outage did have us talking and playing games together more.

 

[Hope_Philomena]

I don’t see what your point is here. Nobody is saying previous generations didn’t have it rough too. Maybe I’m not seeing things correctly but so far our conversation, to me, has looked like you are attempting to lessen the significance of the rise in depression diagnoses by continuously pointing out how rough certain things were in the past.

 

[DarkLight]

My understanding is that there are also sometimes methodological questions about teen mental health. There’s much more awareness that children can have mental health problems and much more looking at “accidental” deaths for potential suicides.

Looking back, I was almost certainly depressed as a teen, but the only thing I ever got was told to stop sulking and be cheerful. I suspect that’s not that uncommon.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I don’t have a “point”. I was sharing some facts about why there is a current “increase” in depression.
I don’t get why you are so defensive about it, but I think I’ll just leave it be and move on to another thread.

 

[TheLittleLady]

It is because these teens have been sold a lie. They are told that happiness comes from sex and things. They have not been taught how to suffer! They do not know that in this life we will face pain and loss and heartbreak and that the only peace, the only real joy, comes from Christ and the Sacraments.

 

[Hope_Philomena]

…I’m not defensive? but okay.

good old Catholic Answers Forums back at it again

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I was a suicidal teen/ young adult myself despite having been taught all that about Jesus (and living in the era way before the Internet). Life is hard, stuff happens.
I was fortunate and got out of the hole. I think I’ll leave it at that since this is long in the past for me and other people on the thread are becoming perturbed.

 

[Hope_Philomena]

I’m sorry that you went through that Life is indeed very hard. I really wasn’t perturbed, I hope you have a good day/night.

 

[MaryT777]

I think also the number of teens I have read living in broken homes with divorced parents or an absent parent has increased over the past years. I don’t have a link but I have read as such. That’s a difficult situation,

 

[PetraG]

Smart phones give teens a way to continuously make socially-important comments about each other, to rob this communication of its face-to-face context and to make many if not most of these interchanges public. They can become addicted to this communication, allowing it to supplant school, physical recreation, real-time socialization with their friends and family, and sleep.

What could possibly go wrong with that?

I have a lot of contact with teens. Those who do not discipline themselves to make time in which they get off of their smart phones and live their real lives with their real friends very much need their parents, teachers, coaches and other guiding adults force them to make that time. If they don’t get refuge from it, it can be very harmful to them.

 

[PetraG]

I don’t find social media by itself to be that big of a change.

Social media are like transcontinental railroads for gossip, only they travel far faster and every trip leaves a permanent trai

Yes, that affects teens very deeply. It is not a new thing, but it makes a dangerous old thing far more accessible and gives it a far broader range. It isn’t just that more people hear the gossip about you. It is also that you can know how much gossip they’re spreading. You can see it for yourself and know who knows it…

Just take “sexting.” Nothing like that has ever afflicted the teen years, but over half of those surveyed under the age of 18 said they had sent or received “sexually explicit text messages or images” at one time or another. These are most often sent and received as a means of flirting, but the images cannot be taken back once they’re sent! The same study found that 26% of respondents reported that, as a minor, they had forwarded or shared a sext they’d received with a good friend, and 3% reported sharing it with a mere acquaintance.

Teens who were aware that sending sexually-explicit photographs of a minor is legally a sex crime that could carry jail time and require registration as a sex offender were much less likely to do it than teens who did not know that teen sexting is illegal in most states.

.http://time.com/2948467/chances-are-your-teen-is-sexting/