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Is it me or has everyone gotten more miserable over the years?

Yes we have, not for all but millenials and gen z can relate, like we're 30 or 20 something for gen Z but the boomers owened houses at that age and we can barely afford rent, and we certainly don't have extra money for the homeless peopble begging on the street, I feel bad for them but like that could be us soon due to the ridiculous rising rent costs, they raised our rent 500 dollars last time we certainly cannot afford it if they raise it another 500

But how to say sorry we don't have extra money, and may be your street neighbors soon actually like we have an apartment for now but we are also poor. LIke some homeless people seem to think if you have a car you must have money and feels bad to just ignore those people and not give anything but, we are struggling to afford a roof over our head so we don't really have extra money to donate.

Too make it relevant due to riduclous rent costs the homeless population has gotten bigger, and yes some of them act scummy but idk what would you do if you were hungry and homeless?

COVID certainly had a negative impact on many people’s mental health.

With that being said, people often remember the past with nostalgia and forget about the tough times. My parents don’t remember how difficult things were when I was small, and they think of their parenting as being much better than it was. They were abusive and my mom had anger issues. (She had to take anger management classes or she could've lost me and my brother.) There was a lot of stress about money, too. Divisiveness was always present in my community. Many didn't seem to know how to engage in debate or disagree in a respectful, nonconfrontational fashion.

In the 50’s through 70's, my grandmothers were in horribly abusive marriages, had unfulfilling jobs, and were desperately unhappy. There was a lot of abuse inflicting on kids as well. My parents met because my grandmothers bonded with each other over trauma. With insufficient laws to protect women and a lack of understanding, domestic violence often went unchecked. https://time.com/3426225/domestic-violence-therapy/

From what I've observed with people in my circle, current experiences with being miserable tend to overshadow past experiences with being miserable, making the present feel worse when it might not be. Of course, there's a lot of variation on an individual level. One positive thing about recent times is the MeToo movement. That's been hugely important for a lot of women. Greater awareness and acceptance of the LGBT community has been positive, too.

I think a big part of it is because of the economy. Where I live, it's virtually unheard of for anyone to have leisure time, hobby time, or even a dollar of savings. It's the highest cost of living on the continent, with the lowest minimum wage in relative terms. There are very few non-minimum wage jobs and AI is taking those away too. People are lost and scared. Most young people (I'll say under 30, or even in their 30s) have no hope of living independently or forging a path of their own. This has a trickle down effect into their relationships because they can't commit to partners or having children if they can't even support themselves.

The constant bombardment of bad-news media doesn't help, either. I avoid media myself but there's a lot of doom and gloom, real-life natural disasters and catastrophes, and enough gutwrenching content that true empaths like autistic people can't tolerate seeing, without being very overwhelmed.

I never watch the news because it gives me anxiety and even, sometimes, panic attacks. It did when I was a kid as well. I think it was probably better for people when news was limited to reading the newspaper and/or a 30 minute TV program. Being constantly inundated with negativity can't be good in my opinion. Of course, some people are good at turning it off, but it seems like many aren't.

Not sure where you live, but where I live Joe Biden and the media say our economy is the strongest in years. So why me worry?

I'm not American. Your economy can't be very strong. I have American investments and they were all tanking, so I diversified and made most of them Asian.

I haven't watched CNN or nightly news since 9/11. I couldn't deal with the Iraq war talk before it even started. I get panic attacks too, especially from those true crime shows like 60 Minutes where they introduce you to a nice, church-going man who later murders his wife and kids before going to play a round of golf and lying to police. Stuff like that does my head in.

I can't do crime shows or most horror movies, especially anything that contains torture. I even had to quit reading a book series I was really into. It's frustrating sometimes. Exposure to triggering content can mess with my head for months.

I saved enough and invested well enough to retire early!

Gender equality and living where I do has helped.
Before I was in that uncanny valley between genders and that really made it hard to socialize.
Now my presentation matches my gender.

I can do horror if it's ghost stories or supernatural, but that's usually full of special effects and ends up looking dumb. I don't mind the ones like Friday the Thirteenth even though I haven't seen many, because they start so many tropes they don't seem believable. I cannot do psychological horror especially if there's captivity. I had a very hard time with Silence of the Lambs and I could never watch it again. Ferris recommended Get Out, which I couldn't finish, and one called Infinity Pool. I was so scared by that I had to stop it for a few weeks between viewings and then read a synopsis to know how it would end before I watched the last part. There was another called The Menu which I didn't find as troubling.

My very best / favourite horror is Rosemary's Baby, or The Omen. I like the old-school psych horrors that aren't about captivity and don't have stupid special effects. It's even better if they're based on a book I can read first.

Anyway, sorry Max, I hope I didn't go too far off topic.

People are miserable for a number of reasons, but increased alienation is likely a big part of that.


@BTDT Congrats! That's great news. I'm retiring early too, in February. I did well for myself, but I was lucky enough to start my career and buy a house decades ago. I don't know if I could do it now.

As a member of gen Z... *sighs* yeah.

I think we're very aware that we're not reaching milestones at the same rate as previous generations. Which is rough.

The job market is unstable. It's been that way for a while. I've lived through two economic crashes and a worldwide pandemic. People from older generations have looked down on me with pity and remarked how I will probably never experience a boom.

Finding (and keeping) work is difficult. A lot of companies are holding on by a string. It's not easy to rent property when you don't know how long the lights are going to stay on at your job.

There seems to be this misconception that you can just walk into any old low-skill job and get hired but that's really not the case. You have to apply online and know how to properly structure your cv so that the AI software that reads it actually passes it on to human eyes.

Then you have to contend with AI in the workplace itself. However, AI does make copyright tricky and if a company is found using it then sometimes there are consequences.

Sometimes people think I'm an idiot for going into the industry I did. However, it wasn't that long ago when people were pushing for more people to enter the industry because new software was entering the scene and they needed people who could use it. We didn't know at the time how things would work out.

Frankly we still don't know how things are going to go.

Then there's all the stupid interview questions. What kind of biscuit would I be? Mate, would it matter? I'd be a biscuit. Biscuits can't think. If I were a biscuit, I wouldn't be in this interview.

Of course you've also got the personality quizzes where you've got to pretend to be a bubbly, faced-paced environment loving, extrovert who communicates with enthusiasm and a smile.

You can't say actually no I'm a moody but methodical introvert. It's also a matter of location. Some places simply have more opportunities but it costs a lot to move there. So the job would have to justify the move.

These days it comes across as you either live with your parents and save up for a car, or you live in a shed and rely on public transport. *glares at the near constant train strikes in my country*

Thanks I've felt a bit lonely lately. It's hard.

I'm not actually a depressed person but having a dissociative disorder and all and I can't really talk about it makes me feel a bit lonely

And then you get certain fuckwits saying that people like me should be executed and all that when I've been coming here for years and never really caused anyone any harm well it just all adds up.

I reported that SOB. Most people would not agree with him in any way.

You are really well-liked here.

I saw that too, and tried to report it. I guess Twilight beat me to it. You didn't deserve that. The only people who deserve to be executed are perpetrators, imo. You are not a perpetrator. You were a victim. You were a child.

I'm sorry you're having a rough time with mental health. Trust that we care and we want you here. I'm going to be busy for a few hours but then we can hang out and play word games, or whatever might help, if you're around.

I don't want you to feel lonely.

Hugs,
Issy

Congrat BTDT... .....
Circumstances these days are mostly seeming to be impossible to get anywhere .. But My father and his family and late hubbys Father and family made it through the Great Depression...Where the suicide rate was off the charts .
And Recovery was doggedly slow, as i understand . Our World has had ,/ is having some real serious issues that people in power
needed to create ,it seems in order to make the greatest profit for the fewest people . And those few , ( drank the Koolaide) so to speak ,to think that they will be able to survive the damage done to this planet .And to its populations. Convinced by equally dumb persons working for corporations trying to sell them a idea or survival products. So they can collect their paycheck . Over 2/3rds of the US gross national product is spend on the military
industrial Corporations. While people go with out food or even housing. Meanwhile these same morons ,in secret talk about eugenic programs since WW2 , imagine the cost of the Georgia Guidestones that made the news in the last few years. Imagine the money to make that monolith. then it suddenly disappeared, Without a trace? And more money to remove them .And they mentioned forms of Eugenics in their concepts written on them. Germany in WW2 was at least obvious about it, Consider the Chineses with the Uyger population. Russians did it too , in WW2,just do not hear of it ....Native indigenous people the world over .
Then here ,where I live the homeless do not hardly get a chance. Cause people are tired of giving money to the lifestyler drug addicts , that choose the excitement of a hobo life but on extremely dangerous drugs.Then burglarize local houses for excitement and fun times to sell at our local pawnshops/ swapmeets .And the real homeless that really need the funds , that might actually be so desperate as to have to panhandle. Now are getting a bad name when they do . And the sense of real desperation and hardship created by a not inclusive government . Causes real suffering , even death. Am hoping the old saying " this to will pass" might be true..but at what cost.
SORRY to write on doom and gloom, but i write what i see .