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Comment by village-idiot | Hacker News Reader

Anecdote, but it sure seems to me that the need for emotional support groups has skyrocketed within my lifetime. I’m sure all the members of these groups are legitimate (I’m not making a “snowflake” argument) but what in the hell is going on?

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My theory - too much information, out of sequence, without a good guide present to clear up misunderstandings.

I teach part time. Lot of the anxiety and depression I see in kids seems to be thanks to this constant info overload on the net. Reddit/Youtube/FB all contribute in different ways.

14 year olds busy reading about the problems 35 year olds are facing on the net, is like dropping off your second grader in a tenth grade classroom and asking them what they think about the problems on the board. The natural reaction is to feel overwhelmed. Everyday they get hit with someother issue, someone is depressed or outraging about.

The best solution I have heard is to allow internet access, not on a device but in group settings (class room/living room etc). This way when they do get hit by stuff above their pay grade, there is someone around to process the stuff with.

Maybe the need didn't skyrocket but the demand did. People used to not have channels to read about their problem, so they were isolated and not talking about it. Now it's easier to anonymously get informed, create support group, join them without much social stigma.

But maybe the need did skyrocket, I don't have data to support either or both hypothesis

Has the need really skyrocketed though? Or has the use of them just become more normalized (and perhaps more convenient thanks to the internet), and less people feel the need to just "suck it up" and deal with their problems alone?

Yeah, my stereotype of the distant past which I didn't live in - say, up to the 1980's - is that it was considered uncool to talk about your problems to strangers in a constructive way.

The rate of death by suicide have been going down since the 40s.[0] I think it is a huge mistake to interpret rising opportunities for emotional support as some mental issue epidemic. People have had it awful since the dawn of time, and I see it as a very positive sign that we are talking about it openly now.

[0]https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/39/6/1464/736597

My guess is that not only is life is much more complex nowadays, but we are continually showered by polished profiles on Instagram et al showing lives that our own do not compare to. This creates feelings of inferiority and missing out, and eventually depression and other emotional problems. Add to that the general pattern towards a society of increasing inequality, and it's possible to see why in this hypercompetitive context so many people are struggling to maintain a baseline of self-esteem.

I’d imagine the hollowing-out of local IRL communities is a major contributor. Fifty years ago you would have gotten companionship and (what at the time passed for) emotional support from your church, or the local rotary club, or similar. We’ve witnessed an enormous hollowing-out of local support networks over the last decade or two for a wide variety of reasons; it makes sense that people would seek an alternative wherever they can.

It cost a lot to set up a support group and they used to be limited to things that were fairly common (ie alcohol), because they had to be geograhically isolated.

When the cost curve shifted because the price of communication crashed as people got on the internet, and the internet then become everywhere and cheaper, the demand curve shifted in response: with the price to setup a support group now is limited to a few hours and a facebook connection, basic supply and demand would say that we should get many more, which is exactly what we got.

In consequence we also get support groups for minor issues, or support groups for issues that are not so common.

I consider both a good thing.

Unfortunately we also got support groups for bad things: pro-ana (and thinspo), and debatable things (suicide pacts).

The Internet. The need hasn't increased just there is longer have any friction for setting them up or joining/participating. Also no geography restrictions to participate.

In meatspace if you want to set up a support group you'd have to rent a space, then participants would have to physically drive there, and your hours would have to coincide with theirs. It's not really fesible for many support groups to form in this environment, especially outside major metros.

With the rise of the Internet, you don't have those restrictions, thus people can reach each other, so they do more reaching out to each other.

Possibly internet support has taken the place of friends and family support though.

I think the need has always existed, it just hasn't been available. The internet has made it much easier to seek out like-minded strangers, and it's become much more socially acceptable to do so, for men especially.

Maybe people just want a group to hang out with, and emotional support group is a way to get that. As to why they are increasing? Because the competition is weakening; other groups are declining.

My guess is that churches used to take that role for a large part.

Now with the internet, it is is much easier to find wider scale and more specific groups so people are turning to these instead.

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