• Xenforo Cloud is upgrading us to version 2.3.8 on Monday February 16th, 2026 at 12:00 AM PST. Expect a temporary downtime during this process. More info here

Why is depression and anxiety so common nowadays?

revoltub said:
It's always been that way it just wasnt something you flaunted before.
Click to expand...

Yeah for years we just didn't bother diagnosing it, but it still happened.


There were plenty of guys who came back from WWI all fucked up, but with limited to zero knowledge of PTSD, TBIs, and brain trauma in general everyone of those guys just got written off as "shell shocked".

Modern mental health and modern neurology are EXTREMELY young as medical fields go.

We had no idea what the fuck was going on even a few decades ago.


A housewife could seek help for depression and walk out with a prescription for amphetamines in the 60s.



And the VA is still failing vets miserably when it comes to mental health, but not quite as bad as they have been in the 80s, 70s, 60's, 20's, etc.
 
biscuitsbrah said:
Is it because people have too much free time and are stuck in their minds now?
I heard an explanation about how a big part is social media and just overall technology is a big cause. I think people and kids especially dont have to interact and socialize with others as much in person. So it obviously gives people social anxiety to do so. Just like how you would get anxious snowboarding or doing something for the first time. Its like that for a lot of people nowadays

Obviously a huge part of "depressed and anxious" people are just being little bitches and its fake news, they are exaggerating and are just drama queens. But it seems to be a real phenomenon especially for young adults and teenagers. Whats funny is you rarely hear it being a huge problem among older adults.

What is your theory?
Click to expand...
Or that it's no longer a taboo subject and people feel that they can talk about it freely? Same with being gay.. It doesn't mean we had less gay folk than now, they just felt they would be ridiculed for it. Both scenarios are horrible and I'm glad that save a few tossers, we're over it.
 
Modern life is different from the way it was for our ancestors. Humans haven't evolved to keep up.

Food - What we eat isn't food. Real food is from farm, garden, woods, or prairie to table. Not processed, not something with ingredients that you can't pronounce.

Society - We don't greet strangers. Children "play" with their friends online instead of getting real in-person interaction. We're lacking human interaction, especially touch which is essential.

Information - We have an information overload. Much of the information that we receive is negative. How often do we hear uplifting news? We read that which pits us against others.

Physiology - Children going through puberty at younger ages. Growth Hormone in foods affecting us. 40 hour work weeks inducing stress. Blue Light. Messed up sleep cycles.

Add in a lack of healthy coping mechanisms and / or physical exercise and we have multiple problems affecting us, anxiety and depression being some of them. Boys are being treated like girls and admonished for being boys. They aren't allowed much conflict resolution besides "tell a grown up". As a child we settled many of our problems on our own. Children and adults now run to the outside source that we think can "fix our problems".
 
Last edited:
Depression's complicated, but anxiety - and it's offshoots - is a just a glorified term for cowardice.

I wouldn't tell someone who's depressed to "man up, don't be a pus", but I would do that to anyone groveling about their anxiety.
 
Our lives are easier, but more complicated. More comfortable, but melancholy. More materialistic, less fulfilling. More gluttonous, but less satisfying.

Why is this?

I don't know, I'm not your fucking priest.
 
We are descendants of European immigrants, for the most part. The type of person who would pull up roots and venture to a strange new land with nothing is also the type who would be more prone to anxiety and depression like creative, unorthodox types. Stable chill people stayed behind. Naturally we are descendants of these brave folks so we inherited their genes, both good and bad.
 
Lack of societal purpose, no cohesion. The Church of Acquisition can only maintain the illusion for so long.

We hide from the philosophical conundrum that is our reality, by any means necessary.
 
Natural Order said:
Lack of societal purpose, no cohesion. The Church of Acquisition can only maintain the illusion for so long.

We hide from the philosophical conundrum that is our reality, by any means necessary.
Click to expand...

Yeah I think the collapse of organised religion and following on from that sense of community has been pretty damaging for society.

I'm not religious myself but I can see the social value for communities in the past. Now people don't know their neighbours and are more isolated than ever.

People are meant to be social and live in tribes.
 
Contempt said:
Glad it worked out for you sherbro but it's a major sore point with me, the over prescription of this shit and getting people hooked on it for life.

MOST people do not need these drugs and never did. Some genuine cases do but the massive profit incentive has led to far more people being prescribed drugs than required.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of people have curable circumstantial depression due to events in their life rather than a neurological issue and I don't believe those people should be medicated.
 
Better diagnosis to begin with. PEople are more honest about how they're feeling and we're better at addressing it.

Anxiety is because society is forcing us into constant fight or flight territory. That system wasn't designed for the modern society where you have threats from other cars, work threats, etc. all day long so for many people, they're always dealing with some kind of stress increaser and that leads to anxiety.

Depression is harder but social media, less secure retirements, fewer friends, and the diminishment of community involvement is harmful to our mental well being in the long run.
 
I blame women entering the work force.
 
panamaican said:
Better diagnosis to begin with. PEople are more honest about how they're feeling and we're better at addressing it.

Anxiety is because society is forcing us into constant fight or flight territory. That system wasn't designed for the modern society where you have threats from other cars, work threats, etc. all day long so for many people, they're always dealing with some kind of stress increaser and that leads to anxiety.

Depression is harder but social media, less secure retirements, fewer friends, and the diminishment of community involvement is harmful to our mental well being in the long run.
Click to expand...

Increasing, blended populations only work to heighten everything you've noted.

Amazing.
 
I do think it’s worse today but also in the past, at least in the US it was taboo to talk about things like that. Think about the Sappranos and how Tong kept it a secret he was seeing a shrink. That stigma was real.
 
More people=more issues. Population of the earth isn’t going down. As long as it keeps going up you will see more and more problems. More cancers, more mental health issues, more murders. Everything goes up as the population increases. Plus living in today’s society can be rough that there is a reason for depression and anxiety.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,282,018
Messages
58,408,753
Members
176,031
Latest member
Golden Rhino

Share this page

Back
Top