What is causing the teen mental health crisis?

[Raze]

data has shown a rise in minors reporting mental health problems

https://imgur.com/LQErnFn

https://imgur.com/3lq6BL0

It likely isn’t just being more likely to report it, as the rate of self harm and suicide has also increased

https://imgur.com/QQSSVsU

https://imgur.com/Mngt0SN

https://imgur.com/jfsevzp

https://imgur.com/zzrVE8m

The risk factors seem to be being white, female, and liberal

https://imgur.com/xznQzBM

Interestingly, conservative girls report less depressive symptoms than liberal males

https://imgur.com/xSeagrn

What do you think is causing it, and what are the solutions?

Edited March 6, 2023 by Raze

[Emerald]

White, female, liberal teens probably have a mixture of lack of in-person socializing, inescapable awareness of global issues that they feel powerless to change, feeling responsible for global issues, awareness of widespread misogyny, and being impacted by the misogyny of male peers who are the primary demographic that get swept up in Andrew Tate-like online content.

And this ruins male/female dynamics because it causes guys to become really callous and mean to girls. And then the liberal girls who are more oriented toward Feminist ideals, will probably have struggles finding a decent boy to date who hasn’t been brainwashed by propaganda.

Then male conservative teens are probably more depressed because they are caught up in all these Andrew Tate-like Rabbit holes. And they’re being propagandized to in a way where things that exacerbate their issues are being sold as cures to their issues.

That would be my guess.

[Osaid]

Our technology and lifestyles are probably advancing faster than our development can handle. It's analogous to giving a chimpanzee a knife. An intelligent person uses the knife to prepare food. An unintelligent person harms themselves with it.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Osaid

[Danioover9000]

@Raze

1 hour ago, Raze said:

data has shown a rise in minors reporting mental health problems

https://imgur.com/3pQQ7eV

https://imgur.com/lllThtI

It likely isn’t just being more likely to report it, as the rate of self harm and suicide has also increased

https://imgur.com/0GJN6vl

https://imgur.com/Mngt0SN

https://imgur.com/49B3KHk

https://imgur.com/zzrVE8m

The risk factors seem to be being white, female, and liberal

https://imgur.com/xznQzBM

Interestingly, conservative girls report less depressive symptoms than liberal males

https://imgur.com/n1wg4kD

What do you think is causing it, and what are the solutions?

   It's the usual suspects: too much social media consumption, and Tik Tok's corruption and corrosive nature to a mind's focus,whilst hijacking it's lymbic system via fine tuned algorithm that curates content based on length of tjme watched amd other factors. That's why.

[Raze]

5 hours ago, Emerald said:

White, female, liberal teens probably have a mixture of lack of in-person socializing, inescapable awareness of global issues that they feel powerless to change, feeling responsible for global issues, awareness of widespread misogyny, and being impacted by the misogyny of male peers who are the primary demographic that get swept up in Andrew Tate-like online content.

And this ruins male/female dynamics because it causes guys to become really callous and mean to girls. And then the liberal girls who are more oriented toward Feminist ideals, will probably have struggles finding a decent boy to date who hasn’t been brainwashed by propaganda.

Then male conservative teens are probably more depressed because they are caught up in all these Andrew Tate-like Rabbit holes. And they’re being propagandized to in a way where things that exacerbate their issues are being sold as cures to their issues.

That would be my guess.

Sorry but this is a massive reach and a convoluted attempt to blame men and boys.

Andrew Tate only became popular last year, yet the trend started much earlier than that. The vast majority of boys are not influenced by Tate and the Manosphere, they are popular but not that popular. Most minors do not get in relationships regardless, I find it hard to believe having trouble finding a boyfriend could cause such a significant shift. Misogny would effect conservative girls as much or more, yet they report significantly less issues. Why would liberal boys, who aren’t effected by misogyny, report higher issues, and why higher than conservative boys if conservative boys are more effected by Tate? It simply doesn’t add up.

[Romer02]

@Raze good take

[Emerald]

18 minutes ago, Raze said:

Sorry but this is a massive reach and a convoluted attempt to blame men and boys.

Andrew Tate only became popular last year, yet the trend started much earlier than that. The vast majority of boys are not influenced by Tate and the Manosphere, they are popular but not that popular. Most minors do not get in relationships regardless, I find it hard to believe having trouble finding a boyfriend could cause such a significant shift. Misogny would effect conservative girls as much or more, yet they report significantly less issues. Why would liberal boys, who aren’t effected by misogyny, report higher issues, and why higher than conservative boys if conservative boys are more effected by Tate? It simply doesn’t add up.

I’m not blaming boys. They are the victims of this type of rhetoric because it exacerbates their natural anxieties and creates false solutions to their problems that actually hurt them more. And it’s unfortunately very common.

But I thought you said Liberal girls and Conservative boys were dealing with higher depression rates. So, that’s the interpretation that made the most sense to me.

But given that it’s Liberal girls and boys, it’s probably just being more acutely aware of global issues and feeling powerless to stop the problems from happening.

[Emerald]

2 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@Raze

   It's the usual suspects: too much social media consumption, and Tik Tok's corruption and corrosive nature to a mind's focus,whilst hijacking it's lymbic system via fine tuned algorithm that curates content based on length of tjme watched amd other factors. That's why.

But why the difference in political affiliation and gender. Those would certainly be true for most teens.

[Ima Freeman]

My guesses:
- social media replacing a healthy social life
- binging on virtual entertainment
- mercury in vaccines till 2003
- toxicity in general
- standard american diet
- urbanization (lack of contact with nature)
- lack of movement
 

[Loving Radiance]

Less human face-to-face interaction & trying to fulfill needs with technology.

Edited March 6, 2023 by Loving Radiance
needs

[Gesundheit2]

• Way too comfortable childhood.
• The school system.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Gesundheit2

[Danioover9000]

@Emerald

4 hours ago, Emerald said:

But why the difference in political affiliation and gender. Those would certainly be true for most teens.

   Not sure about those, but I am pretty sure social media and Tik Tok mind raping the younger generation is more of a contributing factor to the overall decrease in IQ, attention span, ADD/ADHD and even depression, as well as social anxiety and internet inducing mental health issues. Tik Tok, for example, had some users with Tourette's syndrome, and guess what? the viewers self reported that they ended up developing Tourette's syndrome...for fucks sake!

   Not to mention increases in creepy and perv behaviors, critics, edge lords,  Main Character syndrome, trolls, haters...list goes on.

   A whole generation of young, Millenials and Zoomers, getting mind raped by social media, not a promising future.

[trenton]

@Raze this is a good post that I can relate to. As a teen, I was diagnosed with depression.

It is very rare to grow up with a functional family. Fatherlessness is Very high, and it leads to all kinds of psychological illnesses. Men are commonly pushed aside unfairly during child custody fights because of the assumption that women are better parents due to men being more likely to be criminals. In my case, my father really was a horrible person. He was a drug dealer who fled the state to avoid paying child support. Even so, a good father and a functioning family is necessary to avoid all kinds of mental illness, yet 1 in 4 Americans grow up without a father. I would imagine that for orphans this is even worse.

Oftentimes women are not ready to have a child. This can certainly lead to dysfunctional families. For example, a woman could be a single mother due to unfortunate circumstances, yet she is not allowed to have an abortion. Sometimes this leads a child to constant hunger and the threat of homelessness. I would imagine that this child would have many psychological issues.

The opioid crisis is another huge factor. Not only was my dad a drug dealer, but my mom was a drug addict as well. Sometimes mom would start falling asleep while standing up and picking at her skin. Very often she would get into fights with my step father causing destruction throughout the house. A rise in opioid addiction would certainly cause children a wide range of mental health issues. Alcoholism is certainly another factor.

My depression started when I was very young and I was unhappy with life in general. I often wondered how it was that I existed at all. I didn't believe in religion because it was too constraining and holds people back from viewing life from many different perspectives. These underlying existential issues lead to a sense of meaninglessness and often suicidal thoughts. This is a big factor in widespread mental illness. It coincides with the decline of religion due to things like the sex scandals. As more and more people become divorced from religion, they may lose various psychological benefits which were provided through religion. If the psychological benefits of religion are good enough to prevent some people from committing suicide (which it is), then it makes sense that suicide rates would rising.

As someone with autism, I felt like a social outcast when I failed to act the way everyone wanted me too. I felt like it was my fault for following my natural impulses that make me happy. This reinforced that belief that I do not deserve to be happy. People with autism have very high suicide rates, and the same is true for other neuro divergents like maybe schizophrenia or transgender people. Persecution against the mentally ill existed in all human civilizations since the dawn of time and it leads to things like insane asylums.

Don't forget about heavy metals, pfas, and micro plastics. Our food and water is polluted and it is causing people brain damage. Sometimes people start wanting to shoot up a school, but when the brain damage is corrected, they lose this desire. Heavy metals are poorly understood, the epa and fda guidelines are severely outdated and there are carcinogens in our food, and the American standard diet is horrible anyway. This causes all kinds of mental and physical illnesses.

As others mention, social media is certainly a huge factor. It messes with our brain chemistry and is addicting like crack. There have been studies done on things like porn addiction as well. It coincides with a sense of meaninglessness.

America is a mentally ill nation. Just one of the things I mentioned above is enough to cause people depression, yet many of these are wrapped up into one for nearly everybody. Do not be surprised when so many people are committing suicide and we constantly feel socially isolated. It is no wonder that America is in the current state that it is.

2 minutes ago, Gesundheit2 said:

Way too comfortable childhood.

Maybe if you are referring to social media. This idea does not account for opioid addiction and fatherlessness.

[Gesundheit2]

Quote

You've got your rules and your religion, all designed to keep you safe.

But when rules start getting broken, you start questioning your faith.

 

[Leo Gura]

So many people live such shallow lives, without any sense of life purpose or philosophical depth. Of course you will be depressed that way.

What do most teens live for? Games? Porn? Parties? Sex? Online content? Likes? Approval from friends?

All of that is trash.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Leo Gura

[How to be wise]

This might actually be a good thing. Discontentment is one of the conditions necessary for spiral change. All this suffering will force young men out of Orange and into Green.

[Leo Gura]

18 minutes ago, How to be wise said:

All this suffering will force young men out of Orange and into Green.

Very dubious.

More like force them into toxic Red, Blue, and Orange.

Miserable people are not gonna be climbing the Spiral. They will be spiraling into fascism instead.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Leo Gura

[How to be wise]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Very dubious.

More like force them into toxic Red, Blue, and Orange.

Miserable people are not gonna be climbing the Spiral. They will be spiraling into fascism instead.

Maybe in the short term, but once they are painfully aware that the solutions to their problems is only available in Green, they will have no choice but to grow. Growth is always a painful process.

[Gesundheit2]

4 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

So many people live such shallow lives, without any sense of life purpose or philosophical depth. Of course you will be depressed that way.

What do most teens live for? Games? Porn? Parties? Sex? Online content? Likes? Approval from friends?

All of that is trash.

I don't think materialism is the cause of depression or mental illness in general. I think it's rather a coping mechanism/strategy for already mentally ill people whose illnesses are caused by something else.

If you think about it, all of these things you mentioned are actually symptoms rather than causes. Or maybe both at the same time.

Edited March 5, 2023 by Gesundheit2

[Emerald]

6 hours ago, Danioover9000 said:

@Emerald

   Not sure about those, but I am pretty sure social media and Tik Tok mind raping the younger generation is more of a contributing factor to the overall decrease in IQ, attention span, ADD/ADHD and even depression, as well as social anxiety and internet inducing mental health issues. Tik Tok, for example, had some users with Tourette's syndrome, and guess what? the viewers self reported that they ended up developing Tourette's syndrome...for fucks sake!

   Not to mention increases in creepy and perv behaviors, critics, edge lords,  Main Character syndrome, trolls, haters...list goes on.

   A whole generation of young, Millenials and Zoomers, getting mind raped by social media, not a promising future.

What I’m saying is that these things would all affect teens equally across gender and political preference lines.

So, it doesn’t account for more liberal girls to have the highest depression rates, because they probably consume Tik Tok at similar rates to boys and conservatives.