{"id":18917,"date":"2016-03-16T13:40:03","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T18:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=18917"},"modified":"2016-03-16T13:40:03","modified_gmt":"2016-03-16T18:40:03","slug":"young-people-are-growing-ever-more-depressed-is-modern-life-to-blame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/olduvai.ca\/?p=18917","title":{"rendered":"Young people are growing ever more depressed. Is modern life to blame?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Young people are growing ever more depressed. Is modern life to blame?<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Our mental health has suffered over the past 80 years. The causes are complex, but it\u2019s exhausting to live in a society where asking for help equals failure<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

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\u00a0\u2018If modern life is unkind to our mental health, it\u2019s no doubt in part because so many young people fear that admission of vulnerability will affect their employment, or their relationships, at a time when their futures are already far less clearer than those of their parents.\u2019 Photograph: Alamy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u00a0A<\/span><\/span>nxiety and depression are isolating illnesses, but sufferers are hardly alone: according to a new book, the number of young Americans who\u2019ve struggled with these mental health issues over the last 80 years has increased steadily. Sociologist Jean Twenge, the author of Generation Me: Why Today\u2019s Young Americans Are More Confident, Assertive, Entitled \u2013 and More Miserable Than Ever Before,\u00a0told New York magazine<\/a>\u00a0this week that her research had led her to conclude that \u201cmodern life is not good for mental health\u201d. By measuring the frequency of symptoms associated with anxiety and depression \u2013 poor sleep, memory problems, concentration problems, and difficulty learning \u2013 Twenge came to believe that our forefathers and mothers were much happier that we are today. Or, at least, that they were less depressed and anxious.<\/div>\n
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