In recent years, I have noticed a concerning trend among the people around me. It appears that individuals have become increasingly unhappy, isolated, and pessimistic. This trend has been evident for several years, but it has become particularly pronounced in the past year or so. It seems as though everyone has become more shut off and overcome by a sense of hopelessness.
What is even more disheartening is that those who are not overwhelmed by loneliness and despair have seemingly become more agitated, rude, or entitled. It is as if the general population has grown more intolerant and less concerned with the well-being of others. This shift has led to increased divisiveness in society, and people are constantly on edge.
Conversations with the few friends I have left are rarely positive these days. Instead, they invariably devolve into discussions about how miserable our lives have become. Whether it is dissatisfaction with our jobs or struggles within our families, negativity pervades our interactions. This perpetual cycle of complaints only serves to reinforce the notion that unhappiness has become an inescapable part of our lives.
It is crucial to delve into the underlying causes of this prevailing misery in order to gain a deeper understanding. There may be several factors contributing to this widespread unhappiness, and examining them can help shed light on potential solutions.
Firstly, we live in a fast-paced and highly competitive world. Hectic work schedules, societal pressures, and a constant need for success can take a toll on our mental health. The relentless pursuit of success, often at the expense of personal relationships or self-care, can leave us feeling drained and dissatisfied. The pressure to meet society’s high expectations can be overwhelming, leading to feelings of inadequacy and despair.
Moreover, the rise of social media and technology has fundamentally altered our lives. While these advancements have undoubtedly brought about numerous benefits, they have also contributed to our collective misery. Social media platforms often present a distorted view of reality, filled with carefully curated highlights that can make us feel inadequate. The constant exposure to these seemingly perfect lives can lead to comparison, envy, and diminished self-esteem.
Additionally, the erosion of community and social connections has played a significant role in the decline of overall happiness. In today’s fast-paced world, many individuals find themselves increasingly isolated, with little support or connection to others. People are now more likely to interact through social media or online forums, rather than engaging in face-to-face interactions. This lack of genuine human connection can lead to feelings of loneliness and frustration.
Furthermore, it is essential to acknowledge the impact of external factors such as economic instability, political turmoil, and global crises. These issues can create a sense of uncertainty and fear, further exacerbating feelings of hopelessness. When confronted with such challenges, individuals may struggle to find a sense of purpose or meaning in their lives, leading to increased unhappiness.
While it may be disheartening to witness this downward spiral, there are steps we can take as individuals to counteract this prevailing unhappiness. Here are some potential strategies to cultivate happiness and help bring about positive change:
1. Prioritize self-care: Taking care of our mental, physical, and emotional well-being should be a top priority. This includes engaging in activities that bring joy, practicing mindfulness or meditation, getting regular exercise, and ensuring adequate rest.
2. Foster authentic connections: Actively seek opportunities to build genuine relationships with others. Engage in activities or join groups that align with your interests, allowing you to connect with like-minded individuals. Make a conscious effort to spend quality time with loved ones and build meaningful connections.
3. Limit social media consumption: While it may be impossible to completely disconnect from social media, it is important to set boundaries. Recognize that social media platforms often present an idealized version of reality and filter out the less glamorous aspects of life. Spend time engaging in activities that bring true fulfillment instead of passively scrolling through endless feeds.
4. Practice gratitude: Cultivate a sense of gratitude by focusing on the positive aspects of your life. Start a gratitude journal or make it a habit to reflect on three things you are grateful for each day. Shifting your focus to the good things can help combat negativity and foster a more positive mindset.
5. Embrace mindfulness: Incorporate mindfulness practices into your everyday life. Engage in activities with full presence, focusing on the present moment rather than dwelling on past regrets or anxieties about the future. Mindfulness can help cultivate a sense of calm and contentment amidst the chaos of daily life.
6. Seek professional help if needed: If feelings of unhappiness and despair persist, it may be beneficial to seek support from a mental health professional. They can provide guidance, support, and tools to navigate and overcome these challenges.
In conclusion, the prevailing sense of unhappiness and misery that seems to have taken hold of society is deeply concerning. However, by understanding the underlying causes and implementing strategies to counteract this trend, it is possible to cultivate happiness and bring about positive change. By prioritizing self-care, fostering genuine connections, limiting social media consumption, practicing gratitude, embracing mindfulness, and seeking professional help if needed, we can strive to create a happier and more fulfilling life for ourselves and those around us.
I think Covid did a number on everybody. Hopefully life will get back to “normal.”
The economy is in shambles, rich people keep getting richer while poor people get poorer, the environment is on fire, it gets hotter every year, and none of the people we’re told are the only options we have to lead us are interested in actually fixing any of those problems. Are you really surprised?
COVID fucked me. I had social anxiety as a kid and I was finally starting to come out of my shell in college. Then the universe told me to fuck myself and I and everyone else was isolated for 1.5 years+.
Lost all my progress.
Yes. We are in the “events leading up to” period of history.
A lot of problems can be traced back to the Citizens United Supreme Court case ruling in 2010.
Republicans pushed to allow unlimited spending in politics. Now everyone is fucked because politicians have no incentive to appeal to the average citizen, just rich people, and wealth division has skyrocketed.
Multiple groups of people are also having their rights stripped away by the aforementioned “party of smol govt” and politicians and have thrived off social media dividing us and identity politics.
Young people cannot afford a home because of boomers hoarding wealth. While the cost of living has skyrocketed, minimum wage has only increased a few bucks.
Old people with no stake in the future are making decisions about the climate that will screw over young people.
Honestly the only people I’ve seen act like everything’s okay are privileged people, usually old cis white guys with multimillion dollar homes they got from minimum wage jobs in 1980 who don’t care about climate change.
Late stage capitalism is killing us. Climate crisis is here and little being done about it. The lower and middle class have zero upward mobility. The rich just get richer at the expense of everyone and everything else.
Because it is becoming increasingly obvious to anyone with half a brain that there is no future. We will not retire, most of us will never own homes, almost everything in the ocean will die, major cities will sink below the sea, and the entire economy will instantly collapse the second that we stop pretending like it’s doing great.
Almost everyone feels this, some people people can even explain it. It’s hard to not be miserable when you know that everything you could possibly do is pointless.
Job pay sucks, housing market sucks, mental health services suck, politicians are morons, shall we be merry?
People are slipping world wide from middle class to lower class socioeconomic status. It’s a rough ride for many people.
Hope vanished for me in 2010. I haven’t had a moment of peace or happiness since.
Everything in life is getting worse by the day.
I’m not trying or striving for anything. Every time I do, things get far worse. So, I’m just shut down waiting for the days to run out.
The rise of social media has also likely played a role. “Comparison is the thief of joy”. And with all the content out there now, boy, do we have a lot to compare our lives to now.
The economic elite are extracting too much wealth from the rest of us, and roadblocking any reform. Less money = less hope.
Aside from the world being what it is, getting older tends to bring out the cynicism.
I meet a lot of people regularly for work. I have noticed that so many people are struggling lately. Financial, emotionally, mentally. Depression, anxiety, loneliness, and physical pain are raging.
It’s not you. We now live in a world where there is no more rule of law. There is a multitiered justice system. The weather is getting worse each year and those that want to stay in power or stay super rich won’t let the necessary changes to society happen.
79 y.o, acute arthritis, most people I know are dead. I am developing a theory that chronic pain is nature’s way to help us accept the inevitability of death.
well, everything got worse and worse in the last years. The planet is literally dying, people are more and more hateful towards each other, food is getting ridiculously expensive in many places, political views are getting more and more extreme in every direction, wealth distribution is getting worse and worse…
Happens to everyone. Look up the happiness curve with age.. actually, ill do it for you, heres one..
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/this-happiness-age-chart-will-leave-you-with-a-smile-literally/#:~:text=One%20of%20these%20is%20the,some%20modest%20differences%20across%20countries.
In the past three years I’ve lost my sister to covid, my husband of 36 years to colon cancer, moved in with my best friend, lost her to breast cancer, now my disabled daughter is moving out, I won’t be able to afford rent, so I will be living out of my van, and it looks like there is a good chance the economy will collapse in the next year or two, but I’m optimistic for my future because I can’t fall much further.
A quote I have saved for myself is “if everywhere smells like shit, check your shoes”. While the world isn’t in a great spot at all, changes I’ve made for myself have made everything just a little bit better. I have happy things to talk about with friends now, I have hobbies that make me happy when I’m alone, and I’ve got goals I have set. These things help balance out all the negativity of the world and those who contribute to it
We are heading towards the greatest depression. The first great depression was both parts economics and psychology. This next one is the same, Its just the whipsaw effect of a pandemic, the after party and then the subsequent hangover. Plus, we are at a major turning point in technological advances that we haven’t quite yet understood and some churn is going to result.
It doesn’t help that we went from a 24 hour news cycle to a one hour news cycle to an instant news cycle. Now we get to see all sorts of depressing shit ( if it bleeds it leads) that we would have never known about before. It’s a downward spiral of suck if you pay too much attention.
Add in that the social contract is tearing apart and it’s a recipe for suck.
The best you can do is to enjoy what you have while you have it and try not to subject yourself to the easy to access negativity abounding on media. Now that I think about it, I feel like I should take a sabbatical from social media and news media. After all, how much is that something I have anything to directly involve myself in anyways?
We’ve always been cogs in the wheel, but before they used to at least let us have our num-nums. Our new homes and new cars and 2.5 kids and our vacations, our quality consumer goods. People can be content as long as they’re getting their num-nums.
But they couldn’t leave it like it was, and be content with getting merely a lot off the backs of labor. They’re greedy and want more and more, they want it all. Even when it was an employees market after covid they made sure to tank the economy and preemptively lay a bunch of people off and throw that advantage off. Those that still have jobs are doing the work that like 3-4 people would’ve done in previous years. They raised prices in the name of profit (but telling us it’s “supply chain” or whatever) and once the prices go up they don’t go back down, we’re making less and paying more. Regular people are just being squeezed into oblivions for shareholder value. More stress and strife for less and less. Increasingly more and more people just feeling like they can’t get ahead.
If they can’t figure out how to get people the stuff that keeps people placated and thinking everything is ok there’s gonna be a big problem. People can only take so much
God this thread is depressing
The Citizens United ruling changed everything.
Since it passed in 2010, the wealthy have been successfully finding more and more ways to distract us from class consciousness, so they can get their guys in office who fuck everyone over who isn’t in the donor class.
This entails divisive distractions being at the forefront of dinner table conversations, while in the background policies are enacted that keep stressing the financial stability of most households.
The people who are falling for the wealthy’s propaganda are acting like pre-fascists, who don’t realize the garbage in their head was created to suppress them, and it’s ramping up the danger of real authoritarian leadership in the near future.
So the pre-fashies are angry, and suggesting radical solutions to fictional problems, regular people are mad at the pre-fashies for leading us into oncoming traffic, and everyone is financially worse off, except the wealthy who are doing better than ever. And it’s all because money is having an easier and easier time buying politicians and media narratives.
Everything is more expensive, but nobody is getting richer. Everybody works more, sacrifices more, suffers more to make ends meet.
Pair that with a lot of our lives are being optimized to happen in our home or on our phone. Meeting people, watching movies, learning new things, buying things, taking classes, experiencing interesting things. You can complain that these things are detrimental to growth but in our hyper inflation they also end up being cheaper, which usually is a large motivator.
This…is optimal…but its also pretty depressing. I used to make **less** than I do now and it feels like Im poorer. Thats a bummer. I talk to more well off friends, and they’re maybe financially more free…but they face a lot of the same problems.
I think the reality is we are creatures of habit, and COVID broke a lot of us in a way that took a long time to realize made a mark. I was a pretty social person with a lot of social friends. I’ve found a lot of our lives have moved indoors and are pretty muted, because for 3 years thats all we were able to do. Part of that is habitual, part of it is because breaking that habit is more expensive than we can afford.
With the way things are in today’s world you can’t help but to be miserable. Prices on things keep going up. A lot of people unemployed cause it’s hard to get a job anymore. When you do get a job you still have to work your ass off only to barely pay rent so you are not homeless. So all that combined it makes people miserable which affects them in other aspects of their lives mentally and physically. We just need a freaking break already!
I’m strongly starting to believe humans got the internet to early.
It’s a beautiful thing but man social media is bad for mental health.
people are living fake lives online that others can’t live up to and it makes life feel pointless.
Just surviving in the current economy in America is hard let alone other places in the world. We work work work to make ends meet. I’m 27 and I’m not able to save for retirement and it scares the shit out of me. I don’t want to work forever
But I’ve had it easy I came from a middle class home that had it’s shit somewhat together. I’m just trying to maintain I can’t imagine trying to pull up from a bad start. It’s doable but every day takes a lot of effort.
Covid did a number on people’s mental health.
Covid brought out the selfishness people were hiding and now that the genies out of the bottle there’s no going back. Large amounts of people are now blatantly inconsiderate and rude because there’s no consequences for their actions. Rules don’t matter anymore to these people and no one is stopping them. I don’t know what a solution is but the intrusive thoughts tell me punching them in the mouth is an option that won’t solve anything.