Makrosky

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
3,982
I don't believe in the social media hypothesis of depression and suicide. Humankind has lived in much worse scenarios than having social media and people was not as depressed (or diagnosed as) nor comitting suicide.
 

dfspcc20

Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2015
Messages
633
I don't believe in the social media hypothesis of depression and suicide. Humankind has lived in much worse scenarios than having social media and people was not as depressed (or diagnosed as) nor comitting suicide.

I agree- social media is probably better viewed as a symptom rather than a cause. A symptom of lack of connection and intimacy on all levels.
 

Tarmander

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
3,763
If you look at the rollout of 4G towers and rising depression/anxiety rates, they line up exactly. The only thing that can change a large group of people in this way this fast must be large and systemic. Perhaps there is something else like a new pesticide which I don't know about which was rolled out in that same time frame but I am convinced it is the cell towers. Live under one of those for awhile and you get depressed fast.
 

Makrosky

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
3,982
I agree- social media is probably better viewed as a symptom rather than a cause. A symptom of lack of connection and intimacy on all levels.
You see people have a need for constantly creating new theories out of everything. Fueled by the youtube pulpit which allows everyone to say whatever they want and instantly reach millions. Problem is they don't resist the minimum ammount of pressure from common sense.
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
I find I have little interest in social media these days automatically as I am slightly healthier. So it's kind of a chicken or the egg argument.

A really healthy person really just does not care to use social media. At least, this guy doesn't. Got better things to do.

It boils down to lack of dopamine. Social media, TV, video games, etc can create "dopamine rushes" which are addicting especially to people with low dopamine.

And yes, EMF's are a major problem also. It's a double whammy because using your phone to browse facebook/dating apps etc gives you an artificial dopamine rush AND you get hit with RF radiation at the same time.
 

Makrosky

Member
Joined
Oct 5, 2014
Messages
3,982
I find I have little interest in social media these days automatically as I am slightly healthier. So it's kind of a chicken or the egg argument.

A really healthy person really just does not care to use social media. At least, this guy doesn't. Got better things to do.

It boils down to lack of dopamine. Social media, TV, video games, etc can create "dopamine rushes" which are addicting especially to people with low dopamine.
I remember logging in to facebook after some months not using it. I felt like that guy in the orange clockwork film towards the end where they torture him exposing him to hundreds of pictures per second.

I wonder how people can get their dopamine in check with porn, videogames, etc... as you said. What are we doing wrong ? How is it possible they can do that all the time and feel good ?

We think here we know how to have a better health but the truth is that our resilience is much lower than theirs. I feel frustrated every time I think about it.
 
Joined
Feb 26, 2018
Messages
988
I don't believe in the social media hypothesis of depression and suicide. Humankind has lived in much worse scenarios than having social media and people was not as depressed (or diagnosed as) nor comitting suicide.

Like everything it is multifactorial, when I say I believe in it I mean I think it is a large factor.

Try going a few months without any modern media, then spend any time with those who are constantly using modern media, it almost feels like being from another time or culture all together. It can feel very challenging to relate if you have purposefully changed your behavior to exclude these medias. The cultural shift which has occured in the last 20 years is so extreme, I think this huge shift has to influence our mental and physical health.
 

Cirion

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
Messages
3,731
Location
St. Louis, Missouri
I remember logging in to facebook after some months not using it. I felt like that guy in the orange clockwork film towards the end where they torture him exposing him to hundreds of pictures per second.

I wonder how people can get their dopamine in check with porn, videogames, etc... as you said. What are we doing wrong ? How is it possible they can do that all the time and feel good ?

We think here we know how to have a better health but the truth is that our resilience is much lower than theirs. I feel frustrated every time I think about it.

A lot of people don't and are kidding themselves. Just look at the average online conversation and count how many people are playing "keyboard tough guy". Pretty easy to spot how many people are high serotonin, which is a LOT of people. Just because someone thinks things like EMF and bad diet doesn't affect them, doesn't mean they don't.

The reason why resilience is low among many people here is because we got really sick and finally decided to work on it. Reversing decades of unhealth is generally not a super fast process.
 

Literally

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Messages
300
Apparently Facebook has lost 15 million US users, or 6% of the total population in the last 2 year and the trend continues. Facebook announced a major new strategy to day that is obviously a response to this. In any case, if the social media hypothesis holds then it seems that this backlash should register in the trends. Especially if one supposes that some of the people cutting social media include those for whom it is most negative.

U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says
 

somuch4food

Member
Joined
Aug 23, 2018
Messages
1,281
Apparently Facebook has lost 15 million US users, or 6% of the total population in the last 2 year and the trend continues. Facebook announced a major new strategy to day that is obviously a response to this. In any case, if the social media hypothesis holds then it seems that this backlash should register in the trends. Especially if one supposes that some of the people cutting social media include those for whom it is most negative.

U.S. users are leaving Facebook by the millions, Edison Research says

Doesn't mean people aren't still using social media. Facebook is not the only social network.
 

Literally

Member
Joined
Aug 3, 2018
Messages
300
You are right, but there does seem to be a more general backlash. Some of the studies that show problems with social media also indicate that it's "dose-response", so less might be good (if it is in fact bad in the first place).

I use Twitter only, it seems the least problematic -- especially if you use it for specialty discussion and especially avoid anything related to politics.
 

MEWS

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2018
Messages
2
My 24 y/o daughter has been on anti-depressants/anxiety meds since 2014. My 21 y/o daughter since early 2018. My 34 y/o daughter has talked about being depressed but so far no meds. My city wants 5G. These towers have got to be a reason for this anxiety/depression epidemic happening in today’s young people.
 
OP
haidut

haidut

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
19,798
Location
USA / Europe
Although I am not questioning the deteriorating health of the young generation, I find it curious that the start year of the interval (2013) corresponds to the start year of the current (5th) edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5).
Wouldn't that signify that mental-diagnosis "standards" have been "raised" to pump more money and embrace a new slice of population?
Reminds me of cholesterol numbers lowering for a statin push on people...

It is indeed possible but the trend has been noticed much earlier and coincides with the increased rates of diabetes, cancer, and CVD in young people which seems to have started in the late 1990s or early 2000s. I think the latest DSM adds many more diagnosable conditions but does not change depression criteria that much.
 

lampofred

Member
Joined
Feb 13, 2016
Messages
3,244
If you look at the rollout of 4G towers and rising depression/anxiety rates, they line up exactly. The only thing that can change a large group of people in this way this fast must be large and systemic. Perhaps there is something else like a new pesticide which I don't know about which was rolled out in that same time frame but I am convinced it is the cell towers. Live under one of those for awhile and you get depressed fast.

I used to think it was the cell phone radiation, but in that case, older people should be getting depressed at the same rates as young people. I actually think it might have something to do with GMO food after listening to Peat's last interview -- Dr. Peat said the effects of eating GMO don't really show up in the consumer of the food but in the offspring, who are born less and less fertile as the generations continue. By the third generation most of the world will be completely infertile. I would guess we are in the 2nd generation since the green revolution started in the 60s. Which means 90s babies are the first generation to be born from parents who grew up eating GMO food. But it's not hopeless because our good friend CO2 is capable of reversing epigenetic changes if we get enough of it.
 

Broken man

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,693
I think that Its because everything Is made straight, jobs are done in a way that you are like robot, you just must to do the same again and again, there is no novelty, people that you can speak with without talking about how bad the job Is. The most happy people I know Are inovators with strong desire to do something.
 

LUH 3417

Member
Joined
Oct 22, 2016
Messages
2,990
I think that Its because everything Is made straight, jobs are done in a way that you are like robot, you just must to do the same again and again, there is no novelty, people that you can speak with without talking about how bad the job Is. The most happy people I know Are inovators with strong desire to do something.
I feel this way. Everything has been turned into a project. The body, your friends, your love life, your image, your internet identity, everything can be tinkered and fine tuned til you are a perfectly capable well oiled piece of non feeling machinery.
 

Broken man

Member
Joined
Sep 11, 2016
Messages
1,693
I feel this way. Everything has been turned into a project. The body, your friends, your love life, your image, your internet identity, everything can be tinkered and fine tuned til you are a perfectly capable well oiled piece of non feeling machinery.
I dont know if its about emotion, I think that man is made in a way that he needs to work on something that he see as productive for himself like Hans Selye wrote but the thing Is that even the worst work on the world can ve made in a way that Is enjoyable you just need to be innovative.
 

Tarmander

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2015
Messages
3,763
I used to think it was the cell phone radiation, but in that case, older people should be getting depressed at the same rates as young people. I actually think it might have something to do with GMO food after listening to Peat's last interview -- Dr. Peat said the effects of eating GMO don't really show up in the consumer of the food but in the offspring, who are born less and less fertile as the generations continue. By the third generation most of the world will be completely infertile. I would guess we are in the 2nd generation since the green revolution started in the 60s. Which means 90s babies are the first generation to be born from parents who grew up eating GMO food. But it's not hopeless because our good friend CO2 is capable of reversing epigenetic changes if we get enough of it.

You could be right. I have also noticed something similar in EMFs. Older people who did not grow up in it are less bothered by it. My dad lives by a cell tower and is less bothered by it then me. Just an n=1.

Also many schools and colleges have cell towers on them giving a lot of exposure to younger people.
 
OP
haidut

haidut

Member
Forum Supporter
Joined
Mar 18, 2013
Messages
19,798
Location
USA / Europe
I don't believe in the social media hypothesis of depression and suicide. Humankind has lived in much worse scenarios than having social media and people was not as depressed (or diagnosed as) nor comitting suicide.

I agree, it is something else environmental and directly physiological. The rising rates of social media use are actually a sign/symptom of depression and lack of meaningful social interaction. So, these people flock to say Facebook trying to alleviate the issue. Similarly to "addiction" being a cover for chronically elevated stress hormones due to something else entirely.
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom