Why are we so pessimistic?

Re:Why are we so pessimistic? by Medicalidiot on Tuesday June 18, 2019 @03:01AM (#20210342)

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.

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Re:Why are we so pessimistic? by marcus_holmes on Tuesday June 18, 2019 @03:53AM (#20210543)

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.

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Re:Why are we so pessimistic? by leoreeves on Tuesday June 18, 2019 @04:32AM (#20210702)

> 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-...

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Re:Why are we so pessimistic? by pfdietz on Saturday June 22, 2019 @12:06AM (#20247959)

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

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Re:Why are we so pessimistic? by marcus_holmes on Wednesday June 19, 2019 @12:19AM (#20220766)

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing.

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