Psychology: Why Is Everyone So Sad?

I'll be the first to admit that I have had my periods in life where depression and doom sat on my shoulders like a big wet bear.

In fact, I have probably lived the majority of my adult life at the edge of depression, but the key point here is that I have dealt with it. Sometimes I half-joke that I am OK because I simply do not know what it means to not be depressed, so I experience my experience of life as pretty well normal.

How do we find balance?

And yet, here I sit — after almost six decades of life — and I look around me and it seems like most people are struggling mightily to keep an even keel.

A few days ago, I was reading @jaynie's post about a young friend who'd recently taken his own life. And I found myself pondering the question of whether it had really gotten THAT bad, out there.

Fewer Coping Skills?

Frankly, I don't think people are any more or less depressed than they every were.

Hmmm....

Well, OK... maybe they are a little more depressed because the expectations imposed on us by the world seem greater today than in the past, meaning that it's harder to achieve some arbitrary thing we might call "the norm," or the "ideal lifestyle."

One of the first bees of spring...

But above and beyond that, I think many people simply have fewer coping skills, with respect to dealing with adversity.

Why would I conclude such a thing? Well, I do believe the general collapse of our communities and the more superficial connections most people make through the Internet might be playing a role, here. People have fewer and fewer "mates" they can just sit down with and talk about life.

Sending a message to someone on Facebook — whereas potentially offering a moment of solace — is not the same as sharing physical space with a warm body.

And yet, that's all many people know.

To where do we sail?

The Disconnection Factor

It's slightly ironic and sad to think that we are more connected than ever, and yet many people feel more DIS-connected from their humanity than ever. They have 5,000 "friends" on Facebook... and yet they "feel totally alone."

Reminds me of those song lyrics: "200 channels, and nothing on."

Last weekend, I was having a conversation about "life" with our 27-year old daughter who came home for a visit. Somehow we got on the subject of modern youth and "hookup culture."

In increasingly many cases, "getting with someone" is a matter of convenience and satisfying physical needs, with pretty much zero consideration given to such things as deeper spiritual and meaningful connection with another human being.

You might think you are coping pretty well, but most people actually feel much better about themselves and their lives when they are connected to someone; to something around them. We like to be "part of" things... even if we are introverted and tend to be loners.

But it seems to be getting harder and harder... and so, there are more and more "sad" and depressed people in the world... even though they can't necessarily pinpoint an underlying reason for their emotional malaise.

And that's just sad, in and of itself!

Thanks for reading!

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Created at 190501 00:48 PST
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