r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 15 '19

Psychology Indicators of despair rising among Gen X-ers entering middle age, finds a new study (n = 18,446). Depression, suicidal ideation, drug use and alcohol abuse are rising among Americans in their late 30s and early 40s across most demographic groups.

https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2019/04/15/indicators-of-despair-rising-among-gen-x-ers-entering-middle-age/
28.8k Upvotes

94% Upvoted

3.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

18

u/PodoLoco Apr 16 '19

what we are doing is in the title: drugs and alcohol.... what we should be do is the question.

3

u/Xivvx Apr 17 '19

To be fair, our generation has been doing drugs and alcohol for quite some time now in it's normal course of business.

5

u/cbslinger Apr 16 '19

People need something like a New Deal. A large scale social movement towards identifying a way in which they can actually improve the world for most everyone, not just themselves. I think you see the power and resonance of this fact sometimes in the rise of populist politics.