Perhaps rather than medication we could take a closer look at why children are so anxious in the first place.
I envy countries that focus on Gross National Happiness vs GDP.
I envy countries that focus on Gross National Happiness vs GDP.
1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhutanese_refugees
2. https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2022/happiness-benevolence-...
Here's a very troubling example that is happening right now:
Denmark is currently deporting back to syria all of its syrian refugees. They revoked their residency almost overnight and declared that Syria is now safe even if the Civil war is far from over. Considering that the groups that those refugees originally escaped from are still in power (whether it's Assad or the islamists), it basically means certain death for a lot of them (even those lucky enough to avoid reprisals will probably end up forcibly conscripted). They also argue that Damascus is completely safe for refugees who specifically escaped the syrian government security services (gestapo lite)... because that same government is now fully in control and has pacified the entire region.
>In 2019, the Danish prime minister declared that Denmark wanted ‘zero asylum seekers’. That was a really strong signal* >That's really good news," Mr Tesfaye said in February. "Corona, of course, plays a role, but I think first and foremost, it's because of our strict foreign policy. Many of those who come here do not need protection at all." >The government has set a target of zero, arguing that the money saved can go towards welfare[0]
The most troubling part is that all of this is happening under a "moderate" left wing government with pretty wide support and little to no actual backlash. So yeah, I'd be hesitant to use nordic countries as a model for everything. It's a lot of tradeoffs and the welfare state can be sweet for some, but I know that personally as a muslim I'd much rather live elsewhere
This is silly. The US didn't take remotely close to the same amount of refugees per capita in the first place. They just let them die at the border instead.
> all of its syrian refugees.
I'm glad you brought up this topic, but saying "all" is quite an exaggeration, although that doesn't make it any less horrible.
The house is made of cards, and there are people running around trying collect more cards than everyone else - even when those are at the base. Meanwhile, someones turned up the AC at one end of the house and the heater at the other, and we've got weird air currents blowing every which way.
I have seen it a lot more of "why even try because our quality of life is going into the toilet" and less of "we are all going to die"
It can be compared to, "How many times can we change the solar system model before it's reasonable to be doubtful of the message? I think there have been at least 4 changes in what we believe to be the center of our universe in my rather short lifetime and there's always a new proposed center after each one is proven false."
It is a science. It is scientifically proven that the damage we have done to our climate is going to eventually cause very bad consequences. The only question is when, which is very difficult to pin down with constantly changing conditions. It's like trying to identify when the next tornado will hit. You don't know precisely when, you might have some false positives, but you know it will happen. You don't get to say, "Well this is the fifth time the meteorologist has told me to evacuate, I have reason to believe this is politically motivated".
That is not to say that ALL predictions are necessarily wrong, but enough to be wary of the fear mongering. Especially since dramatic predictions probably yield more government money.
Uh, really? There are any number of natural disasters that have been made many times worse by climate change, but ignorance is bliss I guess...
If you’re thinking of nukes, we had New START, SALT, NPT, etc. and a shit ton of activism which significantly reduced the threat.
If you’re thinking of past claims that we’re “past the point of no return” for climate change, those claims were correct. We passed the point of no return for avoiding extreme weather due to climate change. Then we passed the point of no return for 1C of warming. Now we are nearing the point of no return for 1.5C of warming. Things are getting worse for the climate, which is why people keep saying that things are getting worse for the climate.
That said, apathy is counterproductive. We need hopeful children and adults to drive political and technological change. Therapy or other tools for reducing anxiety (e.g. exercise) could help people be hopeful.
It’s hard to communicate bad stuff can be bad without it being WWIII kinds of bad. Imagine time traveling before the pandemic to your younger self in say late 2018 and describing what’s going to happen in detail, in such a way that your younger self feels the same way about it as you do right now.
It will be a serious problem that will take big efforts to solve, but on a civilizational level, it will be much more of an inconvenience than a disaster.
>"Everything seems to say..."
What I just wrote above doesn't go viral or generate millions of clicks. For that you need predictions of epic disaster. So epic disaster stories are what go viral, show up everywhere, makes it easy to conclude that "everything seems to say" that.
As for economic development I think the past few years have shown us very well (though whether or not people want to hear the message will remain to be seen) is that optimizing for economic growth and development (namely GDP) means you're not optimizing for things like redundancy and resilience and stability. Growth for growth's sake is the ideology of a cancer cell; it doesn't have to be ours. How many more "once in a lifetime" economic crisis do we get before we take that to heart?
I didn't even make such references, but your snark claiming renewable energy couldn't possibly have ulterior motives makes no sense.
It is also not a given that it reduces pollution. Until very recently, solar panels cost more energy to make than they would yield. I've hear claims it is different now, but I can not yet buy a solar panel for my house that would make economic sense. That seems odd, because if they would yield a net win in energy, it should be available to buy.
In my country they will now also cut down a historic wood to make space for wind power.
Hydrological dams are also famous for wrecking havoc with ecosystems.
Most ecological issues that are attributed to climate change these days are actually caused by humans destroying nature directly - cutting down woods, eliminating safe spaces for animals and insects, messing with rivers, building cities that let the ground sack into the see, stuff like that.
Not sure how active for example "Fridays For Future" is in your country?
Relentless propaganda: if you have kids in school, odds are any event they plan will be littered with climate change stuff, for example. My kids school decided cakes for the next event will have to be vegan because it is better for the climate, for example. Science projects will be about climate something. And that is just school, media is on a whole other level.
The only thing more popular atm is the transgender craze.
If 10% to 21% of kids had some sort of minor physical aliment we wouldn't be content to just treat it and not question why it is happening.
It's almost like the article should highlight the need for prevention as well as screening which (checks) it does.
Teenagers are supposed to be awkward and feel anxiety, amongst endless other emotions in excess. It's a normal part of growing into an adult.
Take away the act of learning how to deal with all this new emotion, and emotional intensity, and a human's growth will be stunted.
However, space needs to be provided to do that growth safely, and in order to that there would need to be massive changes in Sign-up-for-everything parenting culture, A's-or-die school culture, and a myriad of other things in order for this to work. As it is, this culture takes the fire and throws gasoline on it, preventing healthy growth.
Even outside of that, there is a balance to be struck - while some amount of anxiety/awkwardness is expected, if it leads to suicidal thoughts, self harm, lashing out at others, or other destructive behavior, it has gone to far.
Most children are not teenagers.
> Teenagers are supposed to be awkward and feel anxiety
Diagnosable anxiety is not “feeling anxiety” in the common sense any more than diagnosable depression is “feeling sad”.
> Take away the act of learning how to deal with all this new emotion
No one, ever, has argued for that. Where treatment is required for childhood anxiety, talk therapy — often CBT — seems to me the first-line treatment. Which is exactly learning how to recognize and deal with problematic feelings.
bhutan's an absolute autocratic kingdom, it's just that the king is oxford-educated and does a lot of the usual enlightened monarchy stuff and seems a decent enough man. if his son is a little shit or he gets a stroke or something, that all goes down the toilet