Posted on 05/06/2023 8:16:22 AM PDT by DoodleBob
We know America is experiencing a mental health crisis, but the Youth Risk Behavior Survey recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) illustrates just how serious the problem has become for America’s young people. In 2021, almost three in five teenage girls felt persistent sadness. Girls are twice as likely to be depressed as boys, and one in three girls said they seriously considered suicide. This is a real crisis, and several factors are relevant.
Social media had negatively impacted mental health long before the response to COVID-19 made the problem worse. But a new, perhaps surprising factor, has emerged. It seems a teenager’s political views impact their levels of depression as well.
The study, released in December of 2022, found that liberal teens are more likely to be depressed than their conservative peers. In fact, liberal boys are more likely to be depressed than conservative girls, which suggests that political beliefs are more predictive of depression than gender.
The authors attempted to explain the depression of liberal teenagers in two ways. First, they suggest liberal teens are depressed because they live in a world dominated by conservative values. “[L]iberal adolescents may have therefore experienced alienation with a growing conservative political climate such that their mental health suffered in comparison to that of their conservative peers whose hegemonic views were flourishing.” Few conservatives would agree with the suggestion that conservative political attitudes have achieved cultural dominance.
Alternatively, the authors of the study suggest that progressive kids might be more depressed because they are being targeted — directly or indirectly — by conservatives. “[H]eightened awareness and experience of conservative actions to restrict their rights may have compounded emotional distress.” Is the world simply kinder to conservative teenagers? They offered no evidence of that.
Absent proof that liberal teenagers are a new category of oppressed minority, we should pause to consider whether the modern, liberal worldview might cause depression. There are reasons it could.
In the recent past, the gap between conservatives and liberals was much smaller. Partisan differences were defined by prudential disagreements over the size of government, foreign policy, marginal tax rates, the scope of appropriate regulation, or the most effective way to help the poor. Today, political tribes argue about the ability of men to get pregnant, which is really a disagreement about whether humanity is supposed to make the rules or follow the rules. What we once thought of as political differences have functionally become religious differences and the data confirms the connection. Atheists and agnostics are almost always on the political Left, and the more religiously observant you are, the more likely you are to be on the political Right.
As a result, the thing that makes young people liberals is not so much their belief in a social safety net, but their belief that we are in charge of ourselves — my body my choice. While it’s nice to be in charge, for liberals the situation is complicated by the fact that everything is going terribly: the American dream is a sham, climate change will kill us all, and systemic racism is eternal, they would argue.
Not only does modern liberalism require awareness of problems, it demands a fixation on them and a conviction that they can all be fixed through political action. The Prayer of Serenity has been replaced by “If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention.” It’s not enough to simply treat people well because, “If you’re not anti-racist, you’re racist.” Simply doing your part to make the world better is insufficient because “injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere.” It’s exhausting, but the exhaustion is proof that you’re doing it right.
The Left’s perpetual outrage has turned anger and depression into a form of virtue. As Yglesias notes, “[A]dult progressives … valorize depressive affect as a sign of political commitment.” As a result, a good liberal knows only the ignorant and apathetic can afford the luxury of gratitude or contentment. Therein lies the problem. Since the world’s crises will never end, the moment for contentment, rest, and gratitude will never come.
Christians have a way to understand a broken world that leads to joy despite the pain. Jesus promised us that we would have trouble, but He told us to take heart because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). Our worldview demands joy despite the circumstances because our hope transcends the circumstances. Today’s secular progressive has no such hope. Their joy will come once they’ve worked hard enough to fix all the problems. No wonder they’re depressed.
Originally published at The Washington Stand.
Gonna further than st Augustine
Our hearts are restless until they rest in God
They’ve been lied to by government and public schools their entire lives. Now, they’re trying to live those lies out in the real world.
They are discovering that they’re living lies. So, they double down on the lies and blame everyone who doesn’t agree with them on the lies.
We know who the father of lies is.
We know who the Way, the Truth, and the Life is.
Their souls are in torment.
Maybe it’s because they’ve realized that their political utopia is a fraud.
From the movie tombstone:
“
Wyatt Earp: What makes a man like Ringo, Doc? What makes him do the things he does?
Doc Holliday: A man like Ringo has got a great big hole, right in the middle of him. He can never kill enough, or steal enough, or inflict enough pain to ever fill it.
Wyatt Earp: What does he need?
Doc Holliday: Revenge.
Wyatt Earp: For what?
Doc Holliday: Bein’ born.
“
Unhappiness for the left isn’t a bug, it’s a feature.
When you have swallowed the lies that injustice rules the world, that your culture is poisoning the world, that your heritage is evil and that there is no hope, you are depressed by all your world view and surroundings.
They’re sad because they are told to be sad. They are depressed because they are told everything they do is harmful.... to others in minority “communities”, to the environment.... Any debate on any issue, any disagreement with someone else, they are hateful and a bigot. If they have talent, work hard, show up, they are “privileged”. They are so damned scared that anything they do against any leftist while in school, they will have their lives ruined. I saw this as a school teacher. I saw it from other teachers towards students. I saw kids kicked out of school for not expressing the correct orthodoxy. But most importantly, none of them know Jesus Christ.
Because “progressives” must use euphemisms to hide their commitment to Marxism and Communism.
From cradle to grave they are taught there is not God, America is a horrible place, feel guilt for anything you have; and then wonder why they are depressed.
Pinkos share nothing but pain, suffering, rage, disease and misery.
“The problem with Capitalism are capitalists; the problem with Socialism is Socialism.”
It's easier to control a population if you keep them living in constant fear with big government to the rescue.
“A world dominated by conservative values” = reality
Cognitive dissonance is a poor lifestyle choice.
“Why are young progressives so unhappy?”
Maybe the selfie nation is reaching a dead end
Progressives cannot be happy so long as there are conservatives .
‘Add in absence of religious faith, and you’ve got some pretty desperate people.’
what absence of religious faith...? leftists are some of the most strict adherents to their articles of faith; that they adhere to government as their deity, and politicians and media types as their high priests doesn’t make their supposed righteousness any less real than anybody else’s...
Having gone to junior high and high school in the late 70s and early 80s, I was pretty happy but remember the insecurities, envy, anxiety, and rejection that most kids faced. Today, it’s magnified via social media by a factor of 10X - and on a daily basis! Plus, there are all the brand new social pressures and confusions thrown in, and with huge doses of hate and anger. I would loathe being a teen today, and where most are brain poisoned proggies by default or neglect.
“As a result, a good liberal knows only the ignorant and apathetic can afford the luxury of gratitude or contentment. Therein lies the problem. Since the world’s crises will never end, the moment for contentment, rest, and gratitude will never come.”
What a great quote. The double bonus comes from adopting the morally superior stance/attitude towards the ignorant and apathetic that only the wokiest can attain.
Their only friend is a cell phone.
Liberals are drowning in a sea of reality. They just don’t understand reality and are acting out against it.
They are unhappy because others are happy, and they want to destroy things meaningful or sacred to others.
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