The times seem to have changed drastically in the last 10 years. We see a traumatized generation, lost in a tsunami of psychological disturbances that has hit the world real bad. Across the globe, we see cases of the younger generation going through anxiety, depression, stress, various mental issues and eventually leading to the destruction of physical health. We have become materialistic, where we focus more on things and less on relations. Constant focus on acquiring worldly pleasures has caused psychological chaos, which has become unimaginable.
There was a time when the common man did not know the meaning of the word ‘Depression,’ but today young children mention their tendency to be “depressed”. The generation today, including the young and the old feel isolated, emotionally sensitive, unstable, misunderstood and uninterested in living their current life. It has also been observed that their thoughts are more likely to be narcissistic and self-focused. Insecurity is a trait to be highlighted. From attending 10 cases in a day to 40 is a huge leap. However, the younger lot is aware that there is something wrong and they are not able to fix it right themselves. They are not embarrassed to visit a psychologist nor do they find it a taboo, which is a positive aspect.
Change in cultural values is a prime reason for this chaos. The overall environment of human thinking has become polluted. It is materialistic and extremely selfish. That is what they are learning and that is what they are getting in return. Self-centred and extrinsic goals like status and money are on the rise while relations, family, humanity and love have taken a back seat. This generation is burdened with expectations of performance. There is a constant struggle to be the best, look the best and be appreciated.
The internet has gotten the world closer but it has also induced damage to the human system. Social Media has played the demon and has ripped off the soul of psychological well-being. It is getting so important for people to create a happy image on social media that reality goes for a toss. Filtered edited photos, unnecessary smileys and pictures of everything that they eat and updating every activity done or place visited is an epidemic in itself.
The youth has fallen for the visionless and passionless path. Robotic lives without a deeper meaning and purpose are bound to bring about restlessness. There was a time when people believed in taking advice from elders, teachers or experts. Today most of the dialogue is carried out with Google and as they say, “What Google says is always right…” The generation is not well aware that specialists exist in this world because not all questions, situations and problems are the same. All this is happening because children today lack meaningful and healthy role models to follow.
The newspapers, news channels and daily soaps also mislead the youth into being someone they are not. The promotion of fallacy and fakeness in life will only give rise to a confused generation that will further pass on the worst. The random sharing on what’s an app without confirming the factuality of information shows the need to be fast and first in everything. Being correct and right has gone out of fashion. It is all about being quick and crisp. We have been claiming Global Warming is the biggest danger that will erase the form of the earth, but the mental chaos among humans will end existence before that.
“One case that I handled is so relevant to this context that I must mention it here. A woman complained to me about her face full of Acne and the scars it left on her face after drying. She was tired of the same recurring skin issue. People looked at her with sympathy and she did not like to face the mirror. On probing she confronted that she was feeling lost and did not want to live a life of no value, unlike her other friends who were happy, beautiful and had some status in life. She was depressed. On further questioning, I realized that her actual problem was the comparison that she was making of her life with her other friends’ lives by watching their Facebook timelines. She had gotten into the habit of continuously checking what was happening in their lives. Also, she saw vacation pictures posted, family photo shoots of colleagues and filtered selfies of acquaintances and she felt jealous. She was shocked to hear from me that she was not depressed because of her Acne or skin issue but the skin issue had developed because of her depressed state of mind. Thankfully, I could convince her and with Cognitive Behavior Therapy and homoeopathic treatment, she could deal with depression and her skin issues. Things worked out for her in the 3 months and life became better.”
However, many suffer in silence and ignorance. Most people are not ready to agree that all physical ailments are a byproduct of the mental ailments that we develop and carry. By keeping the mind fit, physical problems can be prevented.
It is high time we stop treating the mind and the body separately. We need to care for both and keep them coordinated. The Psychological Chaos can be dealt with, if we come forward and work together towards cleaning the mental garbage. As we are working on the “Swaccha Bharat Abhiyan” to clean India from the dirt, we also need to pledge to have a similar drive to reduce mental pollution and the mental garbage that has come into the picture in the times now. Reading, sharing and promoting information on mental wellness will surely help us fight this epidemic. Let us be aware that we can fight it, together.
Leave feedback about this