Younger generation more anxious
Younger generation more anxious
This is troubling. The younger (college-aged) generation is significantly more prone to anxiety and depression that their predecessors - and researchers don't know why, other than they've ruled out their parents.
I have to ask, what's going on?
This is troubling. The younger (college-aged) generation is significantly more prone to anxiety and depression that their predecessors - and researchers don't know why, other than they've ruled out their parents.
I have to ask, what's going on?
Comments
1) There's an increase in diagnosis as more research is being done, more treatments are refined and applied, and as the social stigma of being depressed or anxious is not as intense as it once was
2) A lot of students really don't think they will be as financially well off as their parents. Many of them know that corporations are not rewarding longevity in terms of pensions or long term health care and even more don't want the kind of dead end job their mom or dad had, anyway
3) As more parents send their kids to college, there's more of a subliminal message of, "I thought college was a waste of time. Don't waste my moneey. You have to have a high paying job like a doctor or engineer. Don't take unecessary electives." etc. I don't buy that parents are not a factor in some way
4) Increased media coverage and access to information means more world news that is just too depressing to even try to make sense of. It's hard to get the sense that any one person can change the world
5) There is such an emphasis in grade school and high school to get good grades and take college prep classes that creative activities are a luxury
6) Speaking of playtime - where would a kid go to play outside, even if their parent allowed them to?
7) Being able to Google anything and everything and get an instant answer does not mean that a student can read the directions and get results. And it's not something that anyone before them had access to. So many students are clueless on how to use all this information, not just a little lazy to figure it out, and it all overwhelming
8) Gender roles have been turned upside down and inside out and it's hard to know what you're supposed to do about it
That's just a few ideas, I'm sure I could throw pasta at the wall all day and eventually something would stick. What does your younger brother say?
Sad. Very sad.
Oh, and your theories seem so dead-on that it's almost scary. Have you thought about publishing any of this?
(Yeah, I know - like you don't have enough going on.)
And I forget that you're the eldest, though according to sibship theory, you've got fairly classic oldest child syndrome - perhaps you could get funding for that. lol.
On a much happier note, one of the objects of my obession (which I am sure is already taken as a blog title), John Hodgman (areasofmyexpertise.blogspot.com), is coming to A2 for a book signing at Borders in October. Prior to that, he's going to be hosting an evening in New York with Neil Gaiman. If you happen find a winning lottery ticket please remember that I am not above free tickets and comp airfare.
Oh, and one more bit of happiness, courtesy of a tip from Steven Page of Barenaked Ladies: Ok Go "Here it goes again" You've probably already seen it, but dancing on treadmills? Brilliant! Not only is it totally funny, but the simplicity of the set up is a work of art. Apparently this is going to be done large scale on the VMAs.
Hey, I still owe you $5! ^_^