Here's another "social media is the culprit" from Michelle Goldberg in the NYT just this morning. (gifted article, no paywall)
Look, I got off most social media once the reports came out that the companies knew the detrimental effects they were having and buried it. Nobody is claiming that social media is *healthy*. But my experience is that social media is less the cause than the default activity when there is no energy for anything else. And when a deeply depressed kid can't get out of bed, they can still text friends and connect with the outside world through their phone, and that is no small thing.
(I also have some skepticism when Jean Twenge is the primary source in one's argument... she's been beating the "young people are narcissistic" drum so long, the original young people she was targeting with that research are now pushing 40.)
Someone emailed this to me and agreed that I could share it--I think this is super important:
"I absolutely agree that it is a combination of a lot of different factors. The one other piece I think about a lot (as a parent and teacher) is how the mental state of adults impacts the young people in their care. Specifically, most parents and all teachers I know are currently more anxious or burned-out or depressed or tired than they were pre-pandemic, and for everyone I know this seems to mean they have less patience and creativity and energy and joy to bring to their interactions with their children and students. I don’t think this is the only factor, but it seems like it can’t help to have adults around who are less capable of supporting their young people…."
And then I (MAMD) responded: "I can’t remember where I read it, but someone wrote recently about young people who see their parents, many of whom have achieved some security and financial success, only to be stressed out and overwhelmed all the time, and they realize they’re being sold a bill of goods and why should they care about this American Dream that’s been sold to all of us? Especially because their standard of living will probably be less than that of their parents’? Of course kids in poverty have sensed it’s a sham for a long time. So basically, those of us with privilege are only now catching up. Whew."
Thanks to you and your 15-year-old for the point and non-point source definition. That has me thinking about all kinds of topics. Also, I’m encouraged by the young people in my family who can talk openly about their mental health in a way so many in my generation never could. I realize there is some privilege embedded in that, but it still gives me hope.
I mentioned that “there is always hope” to my 31 year old anxious on the spectrum son recently and he exploded back “THERE IS NO HOPE MOM! No one my age has any hope for the future!! The world is doomed!” Yes he is very prone to gross generalizations and exaggeration but I’ve been thinking about the lack of hope in our world a lot since then and your article left me thinking about the connection between depression and hope...
I don't know how old you are, but as a GenXer who came of age in Ronald Reagan's America, the idea that these two global superpowers could blow each other up several times over could be debilitating at times. And the spectre of nuclear war seems like a Disney Cruise compared to the worst projections on global warming.
It's hard because on many objective measures, the amount of human misery in the world is lower than it's ever been in recorded history. So why the despair? In connecting with young people and even my own heart, I think it's hard to reconcile that we have the ingenuity, the tools, and the potential for things to be even better than they are. And yet. [gestures at everything]
There's no question that the reasons for the decline of teen mental health (and of everyone else, I would add) are layered and complex. I also balked at DBB's Christian Nationalist angle--you were correct in isolating the patriarchy inherent in CN as being the most toxic ingredient in that stew. Some of those other reasons that you have seen cited are laughable, but enough of the others are convincing.
That being said, I think we discount the disproportionate impact of social media at our peril. Of course it gives teens and adults alike the ability to connect in positive ways, but as we know, it's all in how we use the tools at our disposal. How much have we been able to model responsible social media use (whatever that is)? We have all been learning this new medium together--and stumbling often along the way.
Never before in history have we been able to so easily idolize ourselves and others through the constant stream of images--especially the altered ones that social media, and now AI make remarkably simple. With that temptation comes unrealistic expectations.
I was talking with an editor at Presbyterian Outlook about a societal tipping point we seem to have reached: our collective inability to socially adapt to rapid technological change. I think we're just now realizing, through both the covid pandemic and the mental health crisis that preceded it, that all this tech we use to make life easier more often has the opposite effect. I'm no Luddite, but one of the things I appreciate most about running is how it frees me from the leash of technology to feel the wind on my face. Of course, I write that fully aware of the very tech strapped to my wrist to track my progress, and the tech strapped to my waist which provides music in my tech-filled eardrums. It's a precariously delicate balance!
Such a thoughtful comment. I hope that conversation with the Outlook means you'll be writing about this more!
I agree that the effects of social media cannot be ignored--there's a reason I listed it first. Do look at the Goldberg column I linked in the comments. I think where I bristle is the implication (not from you, but some) that if we could somehow regulate or curtail social media, we'd be set. I'm very pro regulation and accountability for these companies and would be overjoyed to be proven wrong about this. But this is an everything problem. I think social media doesn't have the deleterious effect it does (and perhaps doesn't become the toxic cesspool it often is) without a whole host of other things acting upon us.
Perhaps I will write about that at some point. I hope so! But I have another assignment for now. I did read Goldberg’s column, as well as the WaPo story (and another it linked to) about girls and mental health. Regulating social media seems like a tidy non-solution to an incredibly complex problem. Complexity itself is something many would-be pundits and politicos refuse to acknowledge in their quixotic quest for tidy solutions. But such is life. If we are not willing to trudge through the soggy muck, we surely will never reach any promised land.
Just one hopeful comment- yes, lots of teens are depressed- maybe the number is not that much higher. Now depression is seen as an illness- one we can meet with kindness, kids go to therapy and are sometimes medicated. I can only speak for me- I assumed I was the problem. I hid in my room because I knew I was worthless and tried to think of a way to take myself out of the equation. No one tried to intervene. I went out the window and wandered the streets. Fortunately we lived a long way from anything and all I got was tired. Hopefully- we are spotting more teens and working on helping.
This is a vitally important point and one I'm glad you made. I'm so encouraged by how up front my kids' generation is about this. They are helping smash the stigma and I'm grateful, even as it breaks my heart that they have to.
As some one who is as self centered as I am, may I suggest one more reason why people (me) want an explanation for the suffering of those that we love so dearly? If I know the cause I can fix it (which is ridiculous on its face) or if I know the cause and it’s me then I can disappear from being me (talk about magical thinking!).
This is why therapy is such a godsend, and in my opinion, necessary if you're going to walk with people well. The sooner any of us faces that we can control absolutely nothing that's not ourselves, paradoxically, the sooner we can actually be a true force for healing and good for others. Sure, we can hurt others and make the journey harder for one another--we're not completely irrelevant. But as my therapist says to me all the time, "Oh, if only you were the cause, MaryAnn."
As I read through the long list of potential causes for this mental health crisis you shared, all I could think is, “Look at how many helpers we have. We are all really trying.” And if that’s not something to celebrate, I’m not sure what is.
At the same time, I can’t help but want to dial in to the roots of identity and belonging in our formative childhood years. As a semi-unserious Buddhist practitioner, the shifts in how I view the world couldn’t be more pronounced from what I was raised in (evangelical/charismatic Christianity) than when I look at the ground from which I assume all humans grow from. The idea that we are born in a fixed state of badness crops up in so many places. It sometimes feels like we are addicted to believing we are bad. If I’m stuck in badness, then nothing is workable. Talk about a circle of despair.
I decided years ago that if I could give anyone, friend or stranger a gift, it would be to remind them that they’re not stuck in badness. That they’re inherently trustworthy. That everything, including the dark and scary places they find themselves or others in, is workable.
And now you're singing my song. I recently ran across the quote from Harold Goddard, “The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in.” We have lived a story of what my heritage calls "total depravity" and a transactional spirituality for far too long. (Got some evangelical stuff in my personal history, but that's present to varying degrees in the mainline/progressive communities I've been a part of too)
I'm hopeful. But temperamentally so, not so much based on the balance of evidence. (Except in the sense that people just steadfastly refuse to give up. That's amazing.) To paraphrase Wendell Berry, I'm hopeful though I have considered all the facts.
Here's another "social media is the culprit" from Michelle Goldberg in the NYT just this morning. (gifted article, no paywall)
Look, I got off most social media once the reports came out that the companies knew the detrimental effects they were having and buried it. Nobody is claiming that social media is *healthy*. But my experience is that social media is less the cause than the default activity when there is no energy for anything else. And when a deeply depressed kid can't get out of bed, they can still text friends and connect with the outside world through their phone, and that is no small thing.
(I also have some skepticism when Jean Twenge is the primary source in one's argument... she's been beating the "young people are narcissistic" drum so long, the original young people she was targeting with that research are now pushing 40.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/opinion/social-media-and-teen-depression.html?unlocked_article_code=3xvP1TTy5jd3q0iC-riPmGpoTZ7t-KrZAC6u0CHDHy6tzyw5pQk6N0n9rCPLAj9QJqMmEWuNyeVwgKrvD3EG_EBcRwIKwbcs2uj09mduoLJlcCSWyOBq9f-_xRdLTLbqp-yZ37DqNlQU1wz9YXOuE5njsWqwmpF4Y177SEMoTL41nq2dC0FmlT14In8mVwFG-JYFGLfnnL3ufQhFr7MomMRw0uRaLd23hNhv70hSDdZUmSS_jrsAr2yfqvzqVU9WFYG0arDzrd4HvvAXxx2DOrc1v2wrDN2VhKfx2k6lAP4rl9A8wNb1hB80zNH6pUn3TDqHjjfiwWY52aCwngV_BA-DoLkNivZ9av4&smid=url-share
Someone emailed this to me and agreed that I could share it--I think this is super important:
"I absolutely agree that it is a combination of a lot of different factors. The one other piece I think about a lot (as a parent and teacher) is how the mental state of adults impacts the young people in their care. Specifically, most parents and all teachers I know are currently more anxious or burned-out or depressed or tired than they were pre-pandemic, and for everyone I know this seems to mean they have less patience and creativity and energy and joy to bring to their interactions with their children and students. I don’t think this is the only factor, but it seems like it can’t help to have adults around who are less capable of supporting their young people…."
And then I (MAMD) responded: "I can’t remember where I read it, but someone wrote recently about young people who see their parents, many of whom have achieved some security and financial success, only to be stressed out and overwhelmed all the time, and they realize they’re being sold a bill of goods and why should they care about this American Dream that’s been sold to all of us? Especially because their standard of living will probably be less than that of their parents’? Of course kids in poverty have sensed it’s a sham for a long time. So basically, those of us with privilege are only now catching up. Whew."
Thanks to you and your 15-year-old for the point and non-point source definition. That has me thinking about all kinds of topics. Also, I’m encouraged by the young people in my family who can talk openly about their mental health in a way so many in my generation never could. I realize there is some privilege embedded in that, but it still gives me hope.
So much hope. And thanks for the link!
Also I just saw this linked on today’s Substack Reads: https://open.substack.com/pub/jonathanhaidt/p/social-media-mental-illness-epidemic?r=3dx4n&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I mentioned that “there is always hope” to my 31 year old anxious on the spectrum son recently and he exploded back “THERE IS NO HOPE MOM! No one my age has any hope for the future!! The world is doomed!” Yes he is very prone to gross generalizations and exaggeration but I’ve been thinking about the lack of hope in our world a lot since then and your article left me thinking about the connection between depression and hope...
I mean yeah! I'm with your son sometimes...
I don't know how old you are, but as a GenXer who came of age in Ronald Reagan's America, the idea that these two global superpowers could blow each other up several times over could be debilitating at times. And the spectre of nuclear war seems like a Disney Cruise compared to the worst projections on global warming.
It's hard because on many objective measures, the amount of human misery in the world is lower than it's ever been in recorded history. So why the despair? In connecting with young people and even my own heart, I think it's hard to reconcile that we have the ingenuity, the tools, and the potential for things to be even better than they are. And yet. [gestures at everything]
(And a shameless plug here for my most recent podcast ep, which talks about hope from a mental health perspective https://maryannmckibbendana.substack.com/p/s02-e02-what-hope-is#details )
There's no question that the reasons for the decline of teen mental health (and of everyone else, I would add) are layered and complex. I also balked at DBB's Christian Nationalist angle--you were correct in isolating the patriarchy inherent in CN as being the most toxic ingredient in that stew. Some of those other reasons that you have seen cited are laughable, but enough of the others are convincing.
That being said, I think we discount the disproportionate impact of social media at our peril. Of course it gives teens and adults alike the ability to connect in positive ways, but as we know, it's all in how we use the tools at our disposal. How much have we been able to model responsible social media use (whatever that is)? We have all been learning this new medium together--and stumbling often along the way.
Never before in history have we been able to so easily idolize ourselves and others through the constant stream of images--especially the altered ones that social media, and now AI make remarkably simple. With that temptation comes unrealistic expectations.
I was talking with an editor at Presbyterian Outlook about a societal tipping point we seem to have reached: our collective inability to socially adapt to rapid technological change. I think we're just now realizing, through both the covid pandemic and the mental health crisis that preceded it, that all this tech we use to make life easier more often has the opposite effect. I'm no Luddite, but one of the things I appreciate most about running is how it frees me from the leash of technology to feel the wind on my face. Of course, I write that fully aware of the very tech strapped to my wrist to track my progress, and the tech strapped to my waist which provides music in my tech-filled eardrums. It's a precariously delicate balance!
Such a thoughtful comment. I hope that conversation with the Outlook means you'll be writing about this more!
I agree that the effects of social media cannot be ignored--there's a reason I listed it first. Do look at the Goldberg column I linked in the comments. I think where I bristle is the implication (not from you, but some) that if we could somehow regulate or curtail social media, we'd be set. I'm very pro regulation and accountability for these companies and would be overjoyed to be proven wrong about this. But this is an everything problem. I think social media doesn't have the deleterious effect it does (and perhaps doesn't become the toxic cesspool it often is) without a whole host of other things acting upon us.
Perhaps I will write about that at some point. I hope so! But I have another assignment for now. I did read Goldberg’s column, as well as the WaPo story (and another it linked to) about girls and mental health. Regulating social media seems like a tidy non-solution to an incredibly complex problem. Complexity itself is something many would-be pundits and politicos refuse to acknowledge in their quixotic quest for tidy solutions. But such is life. If we are not willing to trudge through the soggy muck, we surely will never reach any promised land.
Just one hopeful comment- yes, lots of teens are depressed- maybe the number is not that much higher. Now depression is seen as an illness- one we can meet with kindness, kids go to therapy and are sometimes medicated. I can only speak for me- I assumed I was the problem. I hid in my room because I knew I was worthless and tried to think of a way to take myself out of the equation. No one tried to intervene. I went out the window and wandered the streets. Fortunately we lived a long way from anything and all I got was tired. Hopefully- we are spotting more teens and working on helping.
This is a vitally important point and one I'm glad you made. I'm so encouraged by how up front my kids' generation is about this. They are helping smash the stigma and I'm grateful, even as it breaks my heart that they have to.
As some one who is as self centered as I am, may I suggest one more reason why people (me) want an explanation for the suffering of those that we love so dearly? If I know the cause I can fix it (which is ridiculous on its face) or if I know the cause and it’s me then I can disappear from being me (talk about magical thinking!).
This is why therapy is such a godsend, and in my opinion, necessary if you're going to walk with people well. The sooner any of us faces that we can control absolutely nothing that's not ourselves, paradoxically, the sooner we can actually be a true force for healing and good for others. Sure, we can hurt others and make the journey harder for one another--we're not completely irrelevant. But as my therapist says to me all the time, "Oh, if only you were the cause, MaryAnn."
As I read through the long list of potential causes for this mental health crisis you shared, all I could think is, “Look at how many helpers we have. We are all really trying.” And if that’s not something to celebrate, I’m not sure what is.
At the same time, I can’t help but want to dial in to the roots of identity and belonging in our formative childhood years. As a semi-unserious Buddhist practitioner, the shifts in how I view the world couldn’t be more pronounced from what I was raised in (evangelical/charismatic Christianity) than when I look at the ground from which I assume all humans grow from. The idea that we are born in a fixed state of badness crops up in so many places. It sometimes feels like we are addicted to believing we are bad. If I’m stuck in badness, then nothing is workable. Talk about a circle of despair.
I decided years ago that if I could give anyone, friend or stranger a gift, it would be to remind them that they’re not stuck in badness. That they’re inherently trustworthy. That everything, including the dark and scary places they find themselves or others in, is workable.
I wish we gathered from workable ground more.
And now you're singing my song. I recently ran across the quote from Harold Goddard, “The destiny of the world is determined less by the battles that are lost and won than by the stories it loves and believes in.” We have lived a story of what my heritage calls "total depravity" and a transactional spirituality for far too long. (Got some evangelical stuff in my personal history, but that's present to varying degrees in the mainline/progressive communities I've been a part of too)
I'm hopeful. But temperamentally so, not so much based on the balance of evidence. (Except in the sense that people just steadfastly refuse to give up. That's amazing.) To paraphrase Wendell Berry, I'm hopeful though I have considered all the facts.