
Why Are Young Americans Killing Themselves? - vo2maxer
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/06/opinion/suicide-young-people.html
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forgottenpass
>What explains the epidemic of teen depression and suicide?

When the go-to theories this guy mentions are are cyberbulling, drugs and
alcohol, I've got a problem. Either he's not being honest about the current
theories, or shows there exists zero insight to today's teenagers' experience
of the world.

>We should have universal screening of teenagers at school, with parental
consent, to identify those who are suffering from depression and who are at
risk of suicide.

Perhaps we should add "living in a world structured by boomers who think
mandatory psychiatric intervention of all teenagers for the purpose of
identifying a disorder characterized by bad mood and lack of self-esteem is a
good idea" to the list of reasons teens might experience depression.

~~~
lunias
Yeah, just off the top of my head; I think there may be some more compelling
reasons: inheriting a planet primed for environmental disaster, technology
addiction and constant inundation of information which frustrates the addict,
knowledge that they'll enter into the game of capitalism against opponents
with stacked decks, the utter nonsense that is our binary and extreme politics
- and the infighting which stifles progress for all, the ever weakening power
of labor relative to capital and the realization that most people aren't able
to contribute meaningfully to nor influence the trajectory of human progress
and are instead destined for adult day-care etc.

~~~
forgottenpass
I don't think any of those are direct causes, the day to day realities of the
world trend harsher as we look back at older generations.

I will grant that they are indirect causes, in that the way adults process the
issues among themselves inadvertently create the society that the young are
growing up in.

~~~
duelingjello
Whether things are causes, consequences or side-effects is overly-simplistic,
linear thinking that isn’t helpful when there are many real pains. Don’t
bikeshed on labels or categories, please.

