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539 points drankl | 4 comments | | HN request time: 0.001s | source
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hresvelgr ◴[] No.44485587[source]
The lovable aphorisms we had for people with character quirks were largely from our original support systems. What no one is talking about is the reason therapy-talk has become so pervasive is because all those support systems: family, friends, and local communities (religious or otherwise), have all degraded so severely for most that therapy is the only option for reaching out and getting help.
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Paracompact ◴[] No.44486061[source]
I agree, though possibly for different reasons. Those support systems may or may not be weaker than they were in generations past, but they are certainly more likely to say "I can't help you, go get professional help" than in the past.

In some ways this is a good thing. It is good if bipolar people get the medication they need faster, and can start living their best lives. But as someone who almost died to depression, the "help" out there is criminal. It is not a disease we have a cure for, in fact it's not clear to me it's even a disease in most sufferers, but a healthy and rational response to societal decay. I do not believe some disorders will ever be satisfactorily explained by individual-centric medicine, in the same way history will never be satisfactorily explained by great man theory.

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KolibriFly ◴[] No.44487887[source]
Yeah, calling depression a "disorder" sometimes misses the point entirely when despair is a logical response to how things are
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nradov ◴[] No.44488010[source]
Cheer up! For the average HN user, things are better now than they ever have been in human history.
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wat10000 ◴[] No.44489799[source]
Cheer up, the lake of shit you’re caged in is at its lowest level on record.

Slightly more seriously, things will be on an upward trajectory until they aren’t. There are some decent reasons to think we might be nearing the peak.

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1. nradov ◴[] No.44491920{3}[source]
That's a meaningless claim, devoid of any evidence. At most points in human history there were decent reasons to think we were near the peak. And yet with some occasional temporary valleys, average human living conditions continued to improve.
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2. wat10000 ◴[] No.44492242[source]
At most points in human history, the global economy was not so tightly integrated, and major powers didn't have the ability to devastate the globe in an afternoon.

There is a significant meaning to my claim, which is that it's unconvincing to make exactly the sort of "it has always worked out before" argument that you're making here.

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3. acheron ◴[] No.44493428[source]
The current time is not special just because it's when you're alive.
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4. wat10000 ◴[] No.44493613{3}[source]
Conversely, the current time isn't like the past just because it immediately follows the past.