Recently a disturbing article about depression among young adults world over was brought to my attention. Its title hints at the severity of the problem: Young People Are Now So Unhappy That They’ve Changed A Fundamental Pattern of Life.*
That pattern is that the young are usually happier than the adults. Scientists report being “shocked” by their findings. I will summarize the article here.
While for generations, it was a mid-life crisis that marked the “low point” of peoples’ happiness, now it is young adults. Studies show that, since around 2017, “Now, young adults (on average) are the least happy people. Unhappiness now declines with age, and happiness now rises with age.”
This seems to be a global phenomenon found in rich and poor countries, democratic and non-democratic countries, “irrespective of average earnings or GDP.” The results are similar in 145 countries, ranging “from Australia to Zimbabwe.” They even found a similar trend among populations of great apes.
In the United States, one in nine young women report “every day of their lives as being a bad mental health day.” For young men, the figure is one in fourteen. Huge rises are being reported for young people “visiting mental health services, being hospitalized for self-harm, and even attempting suicide.”
The scientists say they do not know the cause. Said one, “other than cell phones, I don’t have anything.” The global trends go back to 2011—long before Covid. And they continue even with the rise of more jobs and opportunities for young people.
I came across this article at the same time that I was reading about a painting of a young man, created by Luca Signorelli around the year 1500, in the Orvieto Cathedral in Italy. An art historian commented on that painting this way. The figure depicted is the essence of youth. He has a capable body. He is full of expectation and optimism; he is eager and engaged. Everything else in the chapel he is surveying is about the end of life, about death and pain, but the young man embodies the marvelous beginning of adulthood. He evokes the immense pleasure of being human on this earth.**
Is there “an immense pleasure of being human on this earth” in today’s world? If not, why not? We will explore these questions in upcoming DMs.
To be continued.
- * Dr. Katie Spalding, Young People are Now So Unhappy That They’ve Changed a Fundamental Pattern Of Life, IFLScience.com, July 16, 2024.
** Nicholas Fox Weber. Freud’s Trip to Orvieto. New York: Bellevue Literary Press, (c) 2017.
See Matthew Fox, “Honoring the Child Within—Youth and the Cosmic Christ,” in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, pp. 180-198.
And Fox, “The experience of God must not be restricted to the few or to the old,” in The Tao of Thomas Aquinas, pp. 1-8.
And Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox, Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation.
To read the transcript of Matthew Fox’s video meditation, click HERE.
Banner Image: Homeless youth under a bridge in Vancouver, BC, 2009. Photographer unknown. Wikimedia Commons.
Queries for Contemplation
Are you surprised by this news that youth are unhappy around the world? How significant a happening is this, thus that a “fundamental pattern of life” is being ruptured and altered?
Recommended Reading
The Coming of the Cosmic Christ: The Healing of Mother Earth and the Birth of a Global Renaissance
In what may be considered the most comprehensive outline of the Christian paradigm shift of our Age, Matthew Fox eloquently foreshadows the manner in which the spirit of Christ resurrects in terms of the return to an earth-based mysticism, the expression of creativity, mystical sexuality, the respect due the young, the rebirth of effective forms of worship—all of these mirroring the ongoing blessings of Mother Earth and the recovery of Eros, the feminine aspect of the Divine.
“The eighth wonder of the world…convincing proof that our Western religious tradition does indeed have the depth of imagination to reinvent its faith.” — Brian Swimme, author of The Universe Story and Journey of the Universe.
“This book is a classic.” Thomas Berry, author of The Great Work and The Dream of the Earth.
The Tao of Thomas Aquinas: Fierce Wisdom for Hard Times
A stunning spiritual handbook drawn from the substantive teachings of Aquinas’ mystical/prophetic genius, offering a sublime roadmap for spirituality and action.
Foreword by Ilia Delio.
“What a wonderful book! Only Matt Fox could bring to life the wisdom and brilliance of Aquinas with so much creativity. The Tao of Thomas Aquinas is a masterpiece.”
–Caroline Myss, author of Anatomy of the Spirit
Occupy Spirituality: A Radical Vision for a New Generation
Authors Adam Bucko and Matthew Fox encourage us to use our talents in service of compassion and justice and to move beyond our broken systems–economic, political, educational, and religious–discovering a spirituality that not only helps us to get along, but also encourages us to reevaluate our traditions, transforming them and in the process building a more sacred and just world. Incorporating the words of young activist leaders culled from interviews and surveys, the book provides a framework that is deliberately interfaith and speaks to our profound yearning for a life with spiritual purpose and for a better world.
“Occupy Spirituality is a powerful, inspiring, and vital call to embodied awareness and enlightened actions.”
~~ Julia Butterfly Hill, environmental activist and author of The Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods
9 thoughts on “The Unhappiness of Young Adults World Over: A Scientific Study”
The pursuit of ‘happiness’ in this world will always let us down as it is elusive, a ‘carrot’ to always want more than we have. We have not brought up our youth well to embrace the path of a deeper and more abundant ‘state of being’ that internal qualities bring about. What are the missing internal qualities?
* Having less means having more, but just not of ‘things’.
* Doing what it takes to accept the discomfort of making ourselves go above and beyond in our tasks and goals.
* Endurance and enduring through suffering.
* Cultivating a real smile through that which brings us internal joy.
* Helping others in need, which in turn takes the focus and perceived magnitude away from what have become our 1st World problems.
* Inclusiveness and not be part of a ‘clicky, fashionable group and this might not be a people group but a perceived group of ‘hip’ consumers. Culture tells us every day that we need more, and we can’t afford more and even if we could, it does not bring happiness, but more so the need for more than more.
* Getting things that you have worked for, can appreciate more, and not everything being handed to you.
* Maintaining a ‘thicker skin’ and giving up intolerability to the slightest offense (let’s stop coddling our youth) and dumbing them down to the lowest common denominator.
* Learning to use our innate power to envision, to create, and not ever be the victim.
To be continued. – BB.
Profound meditation and questions in today’s and upcoming DMs. The unhappiness of youth around the world seems to be symptomatic of the unhappiness in general among humanity in these modern times, both conscious and unconscious. Humanity seems to be going through a spiritual transition of greater awareness/consciousness that our many world problems are related to our deeper search for inner spiritual values and meaning not being met by modern society with its materialistic and patriarchal values that are destroying our Beautiful Sacred Mother Earth (including Her living creatures and graceful, essential abundance necessary for Life), and our Sacred connections/identities/Oneness as children of Our Loving Source Creator with-in Our Living Loving Evolving Co-Creation Cosmos…
Hopefully, and We always need the spiritual virtues and Spirit of Faith/Hope/LOVE, the nomination of Kamala Harris as the new Democratic candidate another hopeful sign of a new youthful spiritual renewal in America and around the world…
As an educator and artist having worked with youth from pre-k through college, the decline of the educational system— fewer teachers, horribly crowded classrooms, lack of federal funding— as well as the rise of income insecurity (low wages—both parents working to survive), has led to lower quality education that focuses on individual students, homes in which children are left on their own— in their own survival mode. The rise of the global oligarchs and never ending war economy, the inability of the nations to effectively come together to sustain peace between nations and to fight climate change have all contributed to a very bleak present and future for our youth. The military draft has been reinstated in the USA.
Existentially, this is a very depressing picture for all of us, but especially for our youth who see little hope in sight, and few support systems to manage their way through overwhelming circumstances.
When was the military draft reinstated?
It is time for the Church to reach out to our youth and teach them to feel that God’s love is always around them waiting to be embraced. Find the activity that will draw young families to “see what’s going on over there” in our communities (i.e. environmental project, music, drama), offer them light refreshments and an opportunity to rest in the energy of God’s love and light. Being with others with similar interests builds a sense of belonging and internal peace.
We are all part of a whole and it takes the visual sense, often times, to feel that looking over a room of people all pulling in the same direction.
Thank you, Matthew. I am NOT surprised. I look at our society and see tons of reasons why our children are depressed. 1. We’re destroying the earth. Lots of adults don’t care about the world we’re leaving our children. My fundamentalist sister often says, “I’m so lucky that I grew up in the 50s–the best time to be a child.” Yet she says family is everything? What about her grandchildren and now great-grandchildren’s lives? She’s doing nothing to preserve their future. 2. Since Bush and “high stakes testing,” we’ve cut back on the arts in school and NOW we’re telling teachers what kids can and can’t read. Funding for the arts in schools is way down if it exists at all. 3. Smart phones and less human interaction everywhere. It’s not just kids. I’ve seen too many parents out with their kids who are on their phones instead of interacting with even very young children. I don’t see a single thing we are doing to show kids that we care about them.
Having just read the book ‘The Spiritual Child’ by Lisa Miller, I find this DM very timely. The book highlights the issue from a more positive aspect as it speaks to the scientifically studied need for children to embrace their innate spiritual self (not necessarily religious), just as they/we need to embrace our physical and mental self. And how the spiritual self develops at different stages of life alongside our physical and mental development. One of these ‘stages’ of exponential growth is at/around puberty when the brain increases in size, along with our biological systems and our spiritual self, as we begin to ask the ‘big’ questions such as “who am I?”, “why am I here?”, “what am I meant to do?”, etc.
The studies show that children with a grounding in love and connection to others, the earth, the world, have a far better chance of surviving and living with these unsettling changes and questions, less likely to sink into addictions and peer pressure, and that what is now being viewed as a normal phase in teenage years of ‘developmental depression’ does not worsen into a serious clinical depression that we see so much of now.
Dr. Miller’s book is a bit unique in that is extremely readable and has helpful ideas and suggestions all along the way, from baby to toddler, teen years, young adult, parenting. As well as tying in the midlife crisis aspect later in life.
I’ve just put a ebook onto Amazon entitled The Desocialization of America: Cell Phones-Blessing or Curse. With the help of AI, it addresses this topic in an informal dialog framework encouraging readers to see, amid the good, the potential harm cell phones are inflicting on our youth. The description sets the scenario of how cell phones are taking over human contact/communication.
I am not at all surprised but am always skeptical of the results of studies. There surely have been times in the past when youth were in despair for various reasons. I think a major reason is the lack of meaningful relationships in the family and the lack of any sense of community in the wider world. Connections made on the internet are only a pale shadow of the real thing–and can be so distorted and weaponized as to drive some young people to suicide. Bullying seems to have grown and intensified in tune with “leaders” whose main tactic is scapegoating various minority groups and outright calling for violence. As others have pointed out, the institutions that should protect and nurture, like the church, the educational system, government, and law have all clearly been corrupted by materialism and have failed our young people. It is mainly a spiritual malaise. I am so grateful for those in these institutions who are still trying to be there for our children, even against all odds.
Humanity, and the young, are being led today to transcend their illusion of separateness. The depression our youth feel will only deepen until they are able to acknowledge their need to do so. This is because all interest in maintaining this illusion no longer gives them any hope for the future. Yet, it is all we have known for the last ten thousand years of our civilizations, so we cannot visualize any other type of co-existence. Separateness has ruled our reality for so long that we believe there is no other reality to look forward to, and we even expect to find that this continues after we have transitioned from the Earth. Ironically, we are the only species on our planet, and the Universe, that believes this. Whatever separateness mankind identifies with is a mystery to all other life forms, this is because the rest of life knows it is part of something much bigger. We write to tell the reader one can learn how to transcend the illusion of separateness by reading the free ebook provided at: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/from-separateness-to-true-self-realization-a-transitional-guide-designed-to-stimulate-a-spiritual-revolution