Soaring rates of anxiety in children

[Wymsey]

But banning smoking/vwping in public smoking in such places could affect the mental health of some smokers?..

[Sampson]

4 hours ago, inckley fox said:

I read this last week and it came to mind with something I read today.

 

I do this awful thing where I trawl through international newspapers for a bit each morning, mostly so I can impress (or, rather, annoy) people throughout the day with all the titbits I've come across. And today in the Spanish news there were two pieces side by side. One about soaring levels of depression - or sadness might be a better word - and anxiety among under-30s and teenagers. The other said that 25% of young Spanish males - i.e. the ones who never had to deal with Franco or the aftermath - would support a dictatorship. I couldn't help but feel they were different faces of the same beast.

 

Okay, the question itself was part of the problem, designed to show up young people's 'thickness'. The question 'Would you agree that sometimes an authoritarian leader might be better than a democratically-elected politician?' really isn't the same, despite their conclusions, as 'Do you prefer democracy or dictatorship?' But it backs up the idea that the disillusion among younger people is dangerous, can be seen everywhere you look, and has multiple causes. In the same survey over 40% said that it wasn't only social media which was feeding them with a misleading and unduly negative view of the world. It was (I can't remember exactly) I suppose also TV, news, parents, schools and so on.

 

I'm not sure what the solutions need to be, but I suspect they'll have to be fairly radical. On the back of what happened in Germany yesterday, or in the UK over the summer, we obviously need to find some kind of distinction between propaganda and freedom of expression. And we need people to fear each other's company a bit less.

 

Social networks, news channels, politicians, parents and (possibly the easiest area to impact on quickly) schools are all going to have to be looked at in some way or other. Banning mobile phones in schools may be a useful symbolic step, but a wider cultural shift - as Babylon mentioned - which backtracks on some of the post-9/11 paranoia is vital. We're too scared of the world, we don't get out and have fun enough, the arts aren't thriving (often apparent when cultures starts to come apart at the seams), the football's too expensive, and the rhetoric - in the Guardian as much as the Mail - is too divisive. We've become too cynical, fearful and negative about humanity in general. As others stated, much of life has become about simply doing what you have to do to get by in what's painted as a pretty dreadful world. I see a lot of anxiety everywhere, in all age groups.

 

As a final aside... For the smokers out there, would a measure which could lead to the closure of many pubs which are the last gathering-place for many communities, really help in a climate where people see less and less of each other? And where communal spirit was, in the end, the thing which brought an end to the riots a few weeks ago? Personally, I'd be doing all I could to try to give people ways of enjoying each other's company face-to-face, rather than taking them away. And I'd definitely prefer young people to be going down the pub and vaping and irritating me there rather than hiding the bloody things in their school ties!

It’s an interesting and somewhat frightening topic for sure, although I’d argue that the demographics seems to change from western nation to western nation, demographics shows in the uk the popularity of the hard right is largely amongst voters aged 50-70 and the right of centre vote has collapsed amongst those under 40 overwhelmingly (doesn’t mean an authoritarian populist left party can’t capture that in the future). 
 

My understanding in Germany that it’s very much an east/west split and that the authoritarian and populist parties are far more popular in East Germany where many still feel left behind and feel the optimism and promise of reunification hasn’t really been fulfilled much as many of the most economically active East Germans just went westwards in search of the better paying jobs and left many struggling ghost towns in the east. 

 

In France it’s definitely more of a movement amongst younger people, not sure about Spain. Maybe it’s more amongst younger people because as you said, the Franco days don’t feel relevant to their generation
 

 

Edited 2 September 2024 by Sampson

[David Hankey]

I bet the 12 year old lad whose Mum has gone away on holiday on the day he was appearing in court is suffering from anxiety!!

[Manwell Pablo]

On 27/08/2024 at 10:13, kingcarr21 said:

Because instead of kids going outside climbing trees they spend most of their time exposed to the internet. Where they have access to all sorts of stuff that easily influence fragile minds.

 

 

 

Yeah

 

Covid didn't exactly help either,  nothing like being locked in your house with thousands of people dying round the world because of this strange disease that's popped up out of nowhere to totally distort your view on life.

 

Oh and make you spend even more time using the internet. 

[leicsmac]

Interesting insight from the BBC Panorama preview re. social media, teenage boys are being targeted much more than girls in terms of "hostile" content (violence, misogyny etc) on various platforms in terms of the content "recommended" to them.

 

I guess "they" as the purveyors of hateful misinformation think for whatever reason lads are easier to manipulate using these tools, or there is greater payoff targeting them rather than girls.

[Benguin]

More Kids bought up in broken homes 

Irresponsible parenting 

Internet and social media

Less Faith in God

More crime

Mis-labelling of normal emotions

 

These are undoubtedly some contributing factors. 

 

 

 

[Paninistickers]

21 hours ago, Benguin said:

Mis-labelling of normal emotions

 

Tend to agree. Shy, quiet, thoughtful, sensitive were everyday adjectives when I was a kid. Now those sort of emotions are given medical significance and labelled as 'anxiety' 

 

You had to be borderline lunatic to be classified as ADHD. 

 

21 hours ago, Benguin said:

 

 

22 hours ago, Benguin said:

Less Faith in God

Yeah, I say it as a non religious person yet I went to Sunday school a few times, said grace before school dinners, had morning assembly with hymns and prayers etc 

 

It gives people a grounding in basic decency and social etiquette. 

[HighPeakFox]

I cannot speak. There are no words sometimes.

[bovril]

40 minutes ago, HighPeakFox said:

I cannot speak. There are no words sometimes.

I assume this is in response to the post from benguin about lack of faith contributing to anxiety.

 

I think it's an interesting point. As the great historian Christopher Hill said about the reformation, we "abolished priests but not the priest in our head". Are less religious societies more anxious? The US would suggest not although there is obviously a big cultural divide there between atheists and religious that you might not get in e.g. Italy. 

 

Or is it that we are as anxious as ever, we just lean on our faith less. I don't like religion to be dismissed only as some kind of coping mechanism but I am sure it's true that faith for many is a source of strength and comfort.

[HighPeakFox]

1 minute ago, bovril said:

I assume this is in response to the post from benguin about lack of faith contributing to anxiety.

 

I think it's an interesting point. As the great historian Christopher Hill said about the reformation, we "abolished priests but not the priest in our head". Are less religious societies more anxious? The US would suggest not although there is obviously a big cultural divide there between atheists and religious that you might not get in e.g. Italy. 

 

Or is it that we are as anxious as ever, we just lean on our faith less. I don't like religion to be dismissed only as some kind of coping mechanism but I am sure it's true that faith for many is a source of strength and comfort.

It was a response to a couple of posts showing startling (to me anyway) ignorance. I can only assume some people have gone through life without any anxiety or mental health issues. For them, I am honestly pleased if that is the case, but as an almost 54 year old with a lifetime of constant battles that some people just assume are imagined or exaggerated for effect, I am just reminded of the schoolyard, and how little some people appear to have learnt upon getting older. Much like in a lot of political discourse these days, it seems to me that some argue like school bullies and dominate conversations like loud pub bores. 

[Parafox]

22 hours ago, HighPeakFox said:

It seems to me that some argue like school bullies and dominate conversations like loud pub bores. 

FT matchday thread, in one sentence. 

[Paninistickers]

On 03/09/2024 at 20:33, HighPeakFox said:

I cannot speak. There are no words sometimes.

What irked you? You do appear at times rather over sensitive for a 54 year old fella. I looked over this thread and it seems really interesting, really civilised. No 'bullying'

 

Was it the religious thing?! 

 

If it was, I thought the point about kids' anxiety and religion was worth endorsement. Most people who I've got to know and happen to have faith  seem to be decent, well adjusted and essentially kind, broadly happy people. It's not something I've ever got into but I kinda envy that they seem a bit more at ease with life than me 

 

Or was it objecting that many kids' personality traits are now  medically diagnosed? -  rather than just accepting that we all take many forms. 

 

 

 

 

[HighPeakFox]

36 minutes ago, Paninistickers said:

What irked you? You do appear at times rather over sensitive for a 54 year old fella.

What does that even mean? 

[Daggers]

Is it any wonder they're all anxious when this is the literature they now have foisted upon them. 

 

 

[Sly]

At the risk of sounding like a grumpy older man, I’m of the opinion that the world is a closer place. 
 

Children have lost the “no fear” factor that was maybe lost in the “millennial” generation, as phones, internet, social media and even live news TV, have made the world a closer place. 
 

I’d have spent half my time “touching grass” as the young ones say, playing football, on my BMX, getting up to no good, without a care in the world. We didn’t really have anxiety about certain things, as we didn’t really know what was outside of our bubble. 
 

Do Children actually do this now? If they’re not aware, is it the parents refraining them from as they see the news from around the world and are afraid to let Children have the innocence of youth upbringing, due to them worrying about what’s always been in the world, but was broadcast 24/7.

 

We learnt stranger danger from a bloke at Primary School who tried to offer us sweets then invited us to get into his car. This was a setup by the school by the way, to educate us not do stuff like this! Now, due to the internet, Netflix, Streaming TV etc we’ve got access to documentaries 24/7 murderers, peadophiles, shootings, gang violence, air crash investigations, rioting etc!
 

Media was once controlled by the newspapers, which was typically 24 hours late. Even the news was delayed on TV, so the narrative could be controlled. News is now broadcast by the general public immediately if it wants to be. Our child told us recently she’d seen the video of a plane crashing somewhere, so was anxious about flying. We’d have never have seen that. We’d have been lucky if it was even on our radar 20 - 30 years ago as a child. 
 

In the 90s, if a bloke called Frank had been stabbed in my local town, I’d have had to wait and hear it third or fourth hand, or even at school. Now, you’d just log onto Twitter or your local spotted Facebook group to get all the updated information, photos, videos and gossip immediately. You’ll then have others replicating this as they’ve seen it. 

Long and short, the younger generation was more aware of what’s going on in the world. Some of its great that they have more knowledge, so they’re smarter. Some of it is problematic. It’s a double edged sword. 

[orangecity23]

On 04/09/2024 at 22:46, Daggers said:

Is it any wonder they're all anxious when this is the literature they now have foisted upon them. 

 

 

Enid Blyton books sure have changed from what they used to be...

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, orangecity23 said:

Enid Blyton books sure have changed from what they used to be...

Edited 6 September 2024 by Parafox