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i get it. i really do. social media is not for the faint of conformant heart.

but devil's advocate and all—is there really a "crisis" afoot? is it really not just the modern version of teen angst?

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Is a 62% increase in youth suicide since smartphones became ubiquitous just typical teen angst?

that's obviously a striking statistic. do you have a cite for anyone interested in assessing for themselves the veracity of such a claim?

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/suicide-homicide-rates-young-am... > ...Americans ages 10 to 24 ... group experienced a 62% increase in its suicide rate from 2007 to 2021.

this seems to be the source: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db471.htm#secti...

Being near the higher end of that age range, I distinctly remember that I stopped being a happy kid once I started using the Internet (at around age 12) even before addictive algorithmic feeds. This statistic does not surprise me in the slightest.

imo computers and the internet are such potent dopamine feeds that our brains get used to the constant stimulation, making real life boring and causing us to be anxious when we’re not getting our fix. And this is heightened when we use the computer as an alternate world to escape to, and feel more comfortable in, when we don’t feel safe or welcomed in reality.

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