In the Developed world, we don't have to hunt our food. We don't freeze outside. We have comfortable lives in that we have are physiological needs taken care of. Yet, happiness is at an all time low and our psychological needs are neglected. I believe that OP is onto something in that humans are programmed to struggle with something, and if we don't, we start having issues. In my mind this is similar to an autoimmune disease: when our bodies don't have to fight outside pathogens, out white cells start attacking ourselves; this is one theory out there among many of why we develop autoimmune diseases.

When I went through my depression, I did some reading on it, and this comes up in the literature. Essentially, people who struggle to feed themselves don't get depressed. Depression is a first-world problem because we have the time and luxury for introspection and contemplation.

A large part of what got me out of my depression was making meaning for my life. Discovering what really matters to me, and living my life by my discovered values.

I'm also, now, easily the most optimistic person in my peer-group (I definitely was not before). I believe the world is getting better every year, and that the human race will rise to overcome all the challenges presented to us.

> Depression is a first-world problem because we have the time and luxury for introspection and contemplation.

That's a myth unfortunately:

> Now, for the first time, researchers went beyond deaths to examine the global causes of illness and disability. They found that the single largest cause of disability worldwide was mental disorders – largely, the common illnesses of depression and anxiety. They caused a seventh of all the disability in the world. In the poorest countries as well as the richest, and at every socioeconomic level in between, mental disorders were the greatest thief of productive life.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/apr/30/busting-the-...

There's evidence implicating magnesium deficiency in depression and anxiety, so make sure your diet contains ample quantities of this element.

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing.

For most of human history - and in many places around the world today - living a "horrible life" means that it's about to end if you don't actively find food, evade guys with guns, and stay healthy. Being able to waste your entire lives on video games, star wars, star trek, etc. is a privilege of having your entire lifetime basically assured.

That we've evolved for the former situation and seem to be miserable in the latter seems to be the grandparent's point.

There is a difference between "Being able to waste your entire lives on video games" and "Being forced to waste your entire lives on video games"... And it's not a black and white thing, it's a spectrum. More and more people are being essentially forced into virtual worlds because the real world is not giving them a chance to feel basic satisfaction.

If the odds of achieving your goals and leading a satisfying life in the real world approach 0% (e.g. because of hyper-capitalism and monopolistic, anti-competitive, centralizing market forces), then it's completely understandable that you'd want to escape into virtual worlds which give you the dopamine rush which your real life continuously fails to deliver.

What would make a life not horrible? Having to struggle for food and shelter?