Why are people today so unhappy?
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We see so many people today very unhappy, miserable and unfulfilled. I actually attribute much of the “mental health crisis” as mostly people that are unhappy and hopeless and cannot see a reason why their life matters. And once you feel as if your life is meaningless, then it’s just a short hop from there to the idea that no one’s life has any meaning. This is when very bad things happen and we see this born out today. And no, that is not a mental health issue. This is the logical conclusion of what western society is putting into the minds of many people, especially the young. This is mostly a 1st world problem.
There are many people on TV and social media who ponder this issue and the conclusion usually is we need more mental health care and a whole batch of unanswered questions and statements that this is a very complex problem. It’s not.
You can throw as many therapists and fairly useless meds at people you want whom are hopeless and find life pointless and it won’t help in the least. And it’s not helping now. These people are sad and “depressed” (that word gets used incorrectly far too often) but it’s not because of a “chemical imbalance” (another falsehood) but because they are actually sad and for good reason.
If we go back to the beginning of American culture life was about your family, your homestead and the community around you. Even as recent as the 50’s we see that same understanding where the path to contentment was typically through getting married, having children, working hard and having a home. Well then came the 60’s and somehow what was a common understanding became an unfair societal expectation. So for decades we raged against all tradition, typical roles, and anything that was deemed normal or stigmatizing.
So we arrive at present day. Society’s prescription for happiness is to concentrate on yourself (this is coming from left and right). Do things for you. You deserve it. Love yourself. Young people hear this and they do as they are told. They live for instant gratification to the detriment of their futures and they do for themselves constantly with little concern for others.
What happens at this point is after living some portion of your life trying as hard as you can to make yourself happy for 5 mins at a time as many times as possible you come to the conclusion you are miserable. And you are confused and you don’t know why. You did everything that was supposed to make you happy but you are the farthest thing from it. You consult others around you and they feel the same and no one can collectively figure out why. The logical conclusion often is, well if there is no joy to be had in life why live it. Why does anything matter then?
We can defeat these tragic situations, not through therapy or useless medication but with a renewed understanding of how (for most folks) to be happy. To know what things cause long term purpose and joy and to know the things that’s don’t that we should avoid. For a very long time these things were considered common sense. Now they are nearly secrets lost to time.
Family, God, love, children, goals, community are all things that bring long term contentment. The secret there is they have little to do with the self.
The modern world will loudly offer you freedom. But the only thing you will be free from is happiness and hope while being enslaved by misery.
“Happiness? My happiness would be having a wife to go through the rest of my life with by my side through thick and thin. A simple home out in the middle of nowhere. A movie to curl up and watch together after enjoying a good meal. Music to listen to, and lots of art and imagery to look at. And….that’s about it. A simple few things, I don’t require much to be happy, but that first thing (a wife) never comes for me.”
THAT! THAT IS MY POINT!
Happiness or contentment (long term happiness) is NOT complex overall. That more or less for eons was common sense. It’s not a one size fits all thing but for most the same formula worked well.
This is where many societal expectations originated from. Not because your friends or family want to make you a certain way but because they understand that if you get married and have children or have certain goals in your life you will generally end up happy.
But this is my entire point. This formula that you and I are aware of because we are older is lost on many of the crowd under 35. Not only do they NOT know it they are told lies about living life only for yourself. So they end up miserable and cannot figure out why because they are doing everything the “modern” world is telling them to which I am sure leads to the whole “what is wrong with me” mental scenario.
Also, I have been alone myself for the vast majority of my life. I was married once and that did not go well and I have dated very little before that or since. For several reasons I have accepted this my lot in life. I was able to step out of that position long enough to have a daughter for which I am thankful to God for.
But just because we do not have what we think we should, this does not give us a reason to be sad or feel jilted. I say this as someone whom fights that tendency. At the end of the today most females in my age range are all broken (as are the men like myself) and most are not willing to take a chance unless they get everything they want which means everyone gets to be lonely. It’s 100x worse for the young. From a male perspective (the only one I have) most young women have been made insane because of feminism lying to them and not realizing that men and women need each other. They are happy when they work together and seeing those relationships as a competition ruins it all. What hurts men, hurts women, hurts men.
The causes of unhappiness and lack of meaning in life are difficult to reduce to a single problem, and among the many factors, biochemical aspects may also be included. For example, changes in growth hormone can affect mood and general well-being, I often drink it https://worldhgh.com/ as I also have problems with it. Nevertheless, the problem remains complex and multidimensional. Other factors influencing unhappiness and lack of meaning in life may include: Social isolation Societal pressures Economic inequality Technology and social networks Environmental stresses Education and professional pressures
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