
Prozac Nation Is Now the United States of Xanax - kawera
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/10/style/anxiety-is-the-new-depression-xanax.html?src=longreads&pagewanted=all
======
jaclaz
Previous discussion:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14531960)

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rdtsc
> my thought, they don’t want to be my friend anymore,” she wrote, appending
> the hashtag #ThisIsWhatAnxietyFeelsLike.

No doubt their anguish is real. But reading that from the perspective of
someone​ who is struggling to pay bills, feed a family, or starving leads to a
less charitable interpretation. And might fall under the
#ThisIsWhatBeingMildyDissapointedFeelsLike tag.

Oh and of course they had to mention Trump. Just couldn't resist, it's like
they have a quota to fill. And the funny thing is, media like NYT is active
participant in feeding and manufacturing that anxiety by reporting how many
scoops of ice cream he had or the overextended Russia angle, etc.

Yes that will make 37 year old media consultants from NY very anxious, and
they will not hesitate to mention it on Twitter to all their followers.

I only found a little mention at the bottom about general wealth inequality.
How about just about plain ol' poverty, lack of jobs, not being able to
provide for a family. That will cause a debilitating and constant anxiety.
That is something worth reporting and tweeting about.

~~~
muninn_
Yeah but reporting on the actual problems in this country instead of Trump
tweeting about some people who until a few days ago I had never even heard of
doesn't fit the right narrative.

Anyway, I'm going to keep trying to teach kids and adults how to write code
and keep making sure I vote in my local elections. I'm really disappointed in
the media and our government.

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kome
The relation between Americans and depression/anxiety is really bizarre. Their
mental health complex/industry seems really dysfunctional from outside.
Perhaps like the rest of their healthcare...

~~~
TheAdamAndChe
The quality of life for most Americans is on the decline, hence why political
extremists on both sides were nearly elected(For those outside the US, yes,
Sanders is considered an extremist in this country). Workers work more, make
less, get treated less well by their employers, have less stability, and
simply don't have much free time. Socially, America is losing their identity
due to a spreading mentality that social norms are bad for us. We spend time
with other people less, have fewer close relationships, and find trouble
spending much time with our kids because both parents work. Those who move to
big cities from rural areas because the cities are the only places rising
economically right now find that they lose the social support and child-
rearing support that families provide, but there's not much they can do about
that if they want to be okay financially.

College is seen as the only avenue of getting out of that rat-race, but with
ballooning schooling costs and large time and mental requirements to complete
it, it's becoming an option for fewer and fewer people... Then when you do
graduate, you're still paid significantly less than graduates 10 years ago.

On top of all this, there isn't even healthcare stability. Costs for care and
medication are ballooning so high so fast, but it's not like we can do
anything about it. Healthcare is a necessity. If you're poor, can't afford
insurance, and find yourself with a cut, broken bone, or god forbid cancer,
you can't even be sure you'll be able to get care.

With all of this instability, insecurity, and declining quality of life for
most, it's only natural that anxiety and depression would be on the rise.

~~~
CalRobert
It's remarkable, having moved to the EU, to note that most people I know older
than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from the US, and most people
younger than that can't imagine moving to the US (with the exception of those
who want to chase the startup life in SF).

A month off a year is pretty nice. I can't imagine going back to a couple
weeks a year, or getting guilted for not answering emails on weekends.

~~~
TheAdamAndChe
If you got a couple weeks off a year in the US, you were better off than
most[1]. Plus we don't get other basics like maternity or paternity leave.

> most people I know older than their mid-40's can't imagine moving away from
> the US, and most people younger than that can't imagine moving to the US

This points out a big generational divide. There are tons of people doing just
fine in the US right now, but they were mostly grandfathered in. The number of
jobs available has not been growing with our population, mostly because
exploiting globalization and automation are much cheaper ways of growing a
company. It's obviously getting to the point that it's creating social
instability, though.

[1] [https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-
ti...](https://gusto.com/framework/health-benefits/paid-vacation-time-how-do-
you-stack-up/)

~~~
CalRobert
I got two weeks, and for a while three, but that was only because my boss
liked me and I just claimed my week of sick time as holiday. However, my wife
only got one week, which meant actual holidays where we left town together
were pretty rare.

I probably should have clarified - for both of those groups I should have said
"most Europeans I know over their mid-40's, or most Europeans I know under
their mid-40's". Among the US-ians I know views vary widely.

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spodek
Technologists like this community often back up how great things are today by
pointing out how even poor people today have material objects that kings
couldn't dream of years ago, like big TVs.

And yet look at how many people medicate to handle life.

~~~
justinator
Maybe those material objects are also ways both kings then, and poor people
now medicate themselves.

Think of how it was to be a part of royalty - there's a lot of isolation
involved. Humans need social interaction. When we can't get it, sometimes we
fill our lives with stuff that owns us. That doesn't work, so we try drugs.

Perhaps it's more like, we're not fighting the root cause of the problem:
we're all lonely and scared.

No amount of money, or social status, or stuff is going to help us how to
learn to love, and be loved. It's just going to make others envy us and envy
isn't love.

~~~
sharkweek
We're all lonely and scared, and we all believe that we're the only person on
earth who is lonely and scared.

We love to distract our own terrifying thoughts with _stuff_ (work,
television, busy social lives...), instead of learning how to handle an
overactive brain that spends the majority of its time trying to scare us
shitless.

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kingkawn
This is a cultural issue where because of how we conceive of correctness we
are trapped in an ever-shrinking emotional range that is more and more
distressing yet offers no way out without also giving up the implied right to
power that is derived from our sense of achieving authority.

Fucked unless we give up on propping up old ideas of the truth and what it's
possession implies.

