Have you ever stopped to think about how radically different our lives are compared to, say, someone living in the 14th century? Picture this: you wake up in a cramped room, on a straw mattress, in medieval England. Your day is filled with backbreaking labor, and the ever-present threat of the Black Death looms over you. Disease is rampant, death is commonplace, and comfort is a luxury you can only dream of.
Now, fast forward to today. We have access to clean water, safe shelter, and food is readily available. Compared to our medieval counterpart, life seems like a breeze, right? Objectively speaking, in terms of basic survival needs, we are indeed living in one of the easiest periods in human history.
But here's the twist. If our basic needs are met more easily than ever before, why are rates of mental health issues, particularly depression, skyrocketing? It's a paradox that has been bugging me, and I think the answer lies in understanding how our priorities have shifted as our survival has become less of a daily struggle.
To understand this, let's take a trip down psychology lane and revisit Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. You might remember this pyramid from a high school class. It basically outlines human needs in a hierarchical order. At the bottom, you have your physiological needs (food, water, shelter) and safety needs (security, employment). As you move up, you find love and belonging (friendship, intimacy), esteem (respect, status), and finally, self-actualization (achieving one's full potential).
Maslow's theory suggests that we need to satisfy the lower-level needs before we can focus on the higher ones. Makes sense, right? If you're starving, you're not going to be too concerned about your self-esteem. In the past, a significant portion of humanity was stuck battling those bottom two levels. But today, a vast majority of us have those basic needs covered. We're not constantly worried about where our next meal will come from or if we'll have a roof over our heads.
This is where things get interesting. With our physical survival secured, our focus naturally shifts to those higher, more psychological needs. We start pondering our purpose, our relationships, and our place in the world. These are complex, nuanced areas, far more intricate than the relatively straightforward solutions to our physical needs.
Think about it: while everyone's body is different, the basic formula for physical well-being is fairly consistent - sleep well, eat healthy, and stay hydrated. But our minds? That's a whole other ball game. We're constantly learning new things about the human psyche, and it seems like a new mental health diagnosis pops up every other day.
In fact, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), used by mental health professionals, now lists nearly 300 different disorders! Many of these likely existed in the past, but we simply didn't have the means to classify or study them. So, part of the rise in mental health diagnoses can be attributed to our increased awareness and ability to identify these conditions.
But it's not just about better diagnosis. There's a darker side to this increased awareness, especially in the age of social media. We're bombarded with information about mental health, and it's easy to fall into the trap of self-diagnosis.
Take TikTok, for example. Content creator Sydney Watson has highlighted how the platform's algorithm can create echo chambers, constantly feeding users content related to a specific mental illness. A young person might stumble upon videos about autism, relate to some of the described experiences, and suddenly start questioning if they're on the spectrum. As she explains in her video about self diagnosing "One day a famous TikToker I had been following had ASD in their bio. I was unfamiliar with this and realized they had autism spectrum disorder. I found this to be interesting because I related to a lot of their posts .I suddenly started having anxiety that I might be on the autism spectrum as well." [[1]]([invalid URL removed]).
Doctors are even reporting a rise in tic-like behaviors among teenage girls, possibly linked to TikTok consumption [2]. It's a slippery slope where normal human emotions like sadness or anxiety can be misinterpreted as signs of a serious disorder. And, unfortunately, there's a strange trend of almost glorifying mental illness on these platforms, which is incredibly insensitive to those who genuinely struggle with these conditions.
Beyond self-diagnosis, the internet has also transformed our relationships in ways that can contribute to feelings of loneliness and isolation. We're more "connected" than ever, but genuine, deep connections seem harder to come by. Online interactions can create a false sense of intimacy, making real-life interactions feel awkward and anxiety-inducing.
Moreover, the constant connectivity of social media has bred a culture of mistrust. We're constantly aware of what others are doing, and a delayed text can be interpreted as a sign of disinterest or even betrayal. In the past, not knowing what your friend or partner was doing most of the time actually fostered more trust. Now, we know too much, and it's fueling our insecurities.
This constant information overload, coupled with the decline of traditional communities, has left many of us feeling adrift. As the video "Loneliness" by Kurzgesagt beautifully explains, the loneliness epidemic is a relatively recent phenomenon, stemming from the rise of individualism in Western culture [3]. We've moved away from the close-knit communities of the past, and our modern lives often involve relocating for work or education, leaving our support systems behind.
And as famous psychologist Carl Jung noted, the adventure of modern man now lies within the inner realm of the unconscious psyche. In his book Man and his symbols, he explains this phenomenon in detail "Nowadays more and more people, especially those who live in large cities, suffer from a terrible emptiness and boredom, as if they are waiting for something that never arrives." [4].
So, where does this leave us? We're living in a time of unprecedented ease in terms of basic survival, yet our minds are more troubled than ever. We're grappling with complex psychological needs in a world that's constantly changing, and the tools we have at our disposal, like social media, can sometimes do more harm than good.
I don't have all the answers, and this is a multifaceted issue with many layers. But I do believe that exploring the works of existentialist philosophers like Nietzsche, Camus, and Sartre can offer some solace and guidance. Their writings delve into the meaning of existence, the nature of freedom, and the challenges of finding purpose in an absurd world.
Ultimately, navigating the complexities of modern life requires a willingness to look inward, to embrace both the good and the bad, and to find joy in the simple things. It's about breaking free from the unconscious dread that seems to permeate our society and recognizing that true fulfillment often lies beyond the confines of rigid definitions and extreme ends of the spectrum.
What do you think? I'd love to hear your thoughts and perspectives on this. Let's start a conversation in the comments below!
Further Reading & External Sources:
Sydney Watson on Self-Diagnosis:
WSJ Article on Tic-like Behaviors: https://www.wsj.com/articles/teen-girls-are-developing-tics-doctors-say-tiktok-could-be-a-factor-11634389201
Kurzgesagt - Loneliness:
Man and his Symbols by Carl Jung:
Book Recommendations:
- Nietzsche:
- Beyond Good and1 Evil
- Thus Spoke Zarathustra
- On the Genealogy of Morality
- Camus:
- The Myth of Sisyphus
- The Stranger
- The Plague
- Sartre:
- Nausea
- Being and Nothingness
- Existentialism is a Humanism
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