Quote from Zed

I agree with what you're saying, but this is different from depression. Clinical depression doesn't lead to people striving forwards - it leads to them giving up. Depressed people don't get out of bed for days at a time, don't shower, don't take care of themselves. It only becomes a diagnosed illness at the point where it's causing you to do yourself physical harm. (This does not necessarily mean cutting yourself which is a whole separate issue.)

Yeah but I got the impression from the OP that we were talking about the colloquial use of the word depression, as in when people say "I have depression issues" even though they aren't causing themselves physical harm or staying in bed for days on end.

Quote from Scarecrow

this is more of a guess than anything, but i strongly suspect the "work 9-5 for 5 days a week to earn money and then spend that money on things you don't want or need on the weekend" lifestyle has something to do with it.

I know you are guessing, and my guess strongly disagrees. People have been working for centuries toiling in fields, and praying for harvest and getting fucked over year after year based on season. I can never understand the new-age hippie philosophy that somehow working 8 hours for 5 days a week inside an air-conditioned office with water coolers, smoke breaks, Christmas parties and computers is supposed to be depressing our civilization more than any of that.

Quote from Nish

I know you are guessing, and my guess strongly disagrees. People have been working for centuries toiling in fields, and praying for harvest and getting fucked over year after year based on season. I can never understand the new-age hippie philosophy that somehow working 8 hours for 5 days a week inside an air-conditioned office with water coolers, smoke breaks, Christmas parties and computers is supposed to be depressing our civilization more than any of that.

i think doing work that either you love, or that contributes directly to your survival (eg. farming) doesn't have any negative effect, but when you start working at a desk all day doing a job that you hate for soulsucking corporate leeches, you start to feel pretty shit about yourself.

i basically quit graphic design, animation, game development etc when i realized that i wouldn't have any fun in those industries. there wouldn't be any passion or creative freedom, it'd all be me working for some massive corporation to pump out shitty products and advertisements for them to become even more massive corporations - in exchange for a pittance. i personally can't live like that, so i quit it. i don't think i'm the only person who feels that way, even if they haven't figured it out yet.

Yes, but thats always going to be subjective isn't it? My point is, I don't buy that working for a corporate company is SO MUCH MORE devastating than breaking your back in the fields (and hoping that rain may or may not come with no guarantee of a result, as opposed to a fixed paycheck that will always turn up) that it is leading to mass depression in the modern era. I am not debating whether working in an office is better/worse than working in the farms or being hunter/gatherers. I am debating whether it is so much more significantly worse than it causes mental problems.

Quote from Nish

Yes, but thats always going to be subjective isn't it? My point is, I don't buy that working for a corporate company is SO MUCH MORE devastating than breaking your back in the fields (and hoping that rain may or may not come with no guarantee of a result, as opposed to a fixed paycheck that will always turn up) that it is leading to mass depression in the modern era. I am not debating whether working in an office is better/worse than working in the farms or being hunter/gatherers. I am debating whether it is so much more significantly worse than it causes mental problems.

well, it's a difficult point to argue without data. i'm just speaking from experience when i say that doing work you hate for a corporation is a lot more soul-crushing than working to directly support yourself, even if working for yourself is harder.

I don't think it's the idea of working under a larger corporation itself is the problem, rather it is the type of work and actual work environment. If you don't find the work you do enjoyable or at least somehow fulfilling to you as a person, then you will most definitely not be happy.

Quote from Scarecrow

well, it's a difficult point to argue without data. i'm just speaking from experience when i say that doing work you hate for a corporation is a lot more soul-crushing than working to directly support yourself, even if working for yourself is harder.

I think the problem is you are taking a personal opinion and guessing that it might apply to more people than it actually does (in my opinion). I agree that without data, it would be difficult to discuss the point, which is why I disagree with using a data-less opinion to make a guess about the world suddenly becoming more depressed.

Quote from Salt

I don't think it's the idea of working under a larger corporation itself is the problem, rather it is the type of work and actual work environment. If you don't find the work you do enjoyable or at least somehow fulfilling to you as a person, then you will most definitely not be happy.

I think we should all still remember that the topic is about people identifying themselves as 'depressed' and not 'sad' or 'unhappy'. We need to first decide whether we are debating perceived lower levels of happiness, or a rise in a crippling mental illness.

Quote from Nish

Yeah but I got the impression from the OP that we were talking about the colloquial use of the word depression, as in when people say "I have depression issues" even though they aren't causing themselves physical harm or staying in bed for days on end.

I was saying that might be a cause in the increased numbers.
I honestly wanted to hear about opinions/facts about clinical depression as well.

It's modern society. Look at this generation now, atleast in the USA. Growing up in Elementary school, all the kids are coddled, everyone's a winner, everyone's a great person, no matter what. They treat normal kids like they used to treat retarded kids. Then as soon as you hit highschool everybody judges you, and you suck. For the first time in your life when you are 16 you have to earn respect from others. Now you are pressured to be cool to get a girlfriend. Everyone is pressuring you saying that you have to get a 4.0 GPA or else you will live a terrible life.

All through that you are telling yourself,"college! Just gotta wait till college then everything will be fine!" 9.99% of the time college sucks too, now you have to work two jobs to pay for it, but your still waiting to get that master's degree. It sucks ass for the most part. Then you are thrown out into the world, the business world. Then you realize you're still barely making money and you're degree meant nothing. You'd have a very terrible 9-5 job that is much worse than what you envisioned.

Now you feel like a loser and you've always been a loser. I need Zoloft and Prozac to numb the pain!! You still have no life and you married out of fear of being alone. You have kids and dedicate your life to other people. Deep inside you feel like your life sucked compared to how you thought it'd be. Then you get a mid life crisis and start cheating on your wife and get a divorce. Then you start drinking and doing drugs and banging young prostitutes but nothing will fill that empty hole inside.

That's why we have depressed people. We're told that we could do whatever we want in life when were young and that the world is a great place, but as you grow older it turns into a gritty unwelcome place.