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The Decline of Well-Being in Young Adults

User Profile: fruityPond7887
fruityPond7887 August 26th, 2022


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"The last couple of years, we have been reporting on nationally representative data within the United States on our flourishing assessment covering numerous aspects of well-being, including happiness, health, meaning, character, social relationships, and financial stability. In a report that we recently published in JAMA Psychiatry, we have presented such flourishing assessment data for January 2022 in the United States. Some signs are encouraging, and for some age groups the self-reported scores are roughly similar to the national averages we had reported before the pandemic. However, one particularly striking feature of this most recent data is that young adults (especially those aged 18–25 years) are not doing especially well, and they are not doing well across multiple aspects of well-being.

Relatively speaking, young people are not doing as well as they once were. They are reporting being less happy and less healthy; having less meaning, greater struggles with character, and poorer relationships; and being less financially stable than their older counterparts. The differences in well-being with age were, in fact, much larger than they were for gender or for race. There has been discussion of a national mental health crisis among youth. The present disconcerting data indicate that the crisis is much broader, embracing numerous aspects of flourishing, and with potentially dire implications for the future of our nation.

We need to work on helping young people, of this generation and of subsequent generations, to thrive. We need to foster systems of meaning and deeper engagement with the most fundamental questions of life. We need greater discipline in our social media use, from individuals to communities to corporations. Parents and schools could appropriately restrict use and also help teenagers and others to develop healthier patterns of use; corporations need to take the well-being studies seriously, and design platforms that do not impede well-being. We need to focus on rebuilding relationships and communities post-pandemic. Finally, we need a politics more oriented toward the common good—both oriented toward the common good of the present but also toward the common good of the future, and of future generations. The well-being of our youth, and the future of our society, depend upon it."

*Our society has been all over the place the past few years and I can totally see why this could cause a decline in overall well-being! With so many aspects of life affecting us negatively, it's going to have an effect at some point! I think it's important to remember that everyone has been feeling this way and that you are never alone. Please don't hesitate to talk to others about how you are feeling and remember that things are always changing and nothing lasts forever. ❤️ Do you feel that the current events from the past few years have affected your mental health? What do you do or say to yourself to make yourself feel better?*

#WellBeing #NationalMentalHealthCrisis #PostPandemic

Please find the full article at Psychology Today!

You are never alone! <3




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User Profile: Sunisshiningandsoareyou
Sunisshiningandsoareyou August 26th, 2022

@fruityPond7887

Oh yes definitely has, in many ways. I try telling myself that this shall pass, and the situation will not always be the same, just gotta keep breathing and taking it one day (and sometimes one moment) at a time, sometimes it works, other times we just keep it rolling haha! ❤

Thankyou for another amazing article, lovely. 💛

We are not alone, yasss!

1 reply
User Profile: fruityPond7887
fruityPond7887 OP August 31st, 2022

@Sunisshiningandsoareyou You're always so insightful Sun <3 We just have to roll with the punches and take it day by day because we never know what each day will bring 💛 Thank you for your support!

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User Profile: calmDew1576
calmDew1576 August 26th, 2022

@fruityPond7887 Young adults go through a challenging time of their lives since they strart taking over responsibilities and making decisions about future. Things like career choices, relationship stress and fanacial instability are very common and it tkaes some time to get used to all this adulthood world and cope with the responsibilities.

Last year has been definitely very stressful, yet motivating (due to covid and lockdown). I realized that I can lose everything I have if I don't maintain it and I also accepted that I'm not completely happy with my life. The time home was usefseful for me to do research and decide what I want to do in the future.

What's important is that at the end of the day every negative event has also a positive outcome and the future is always in our hands. Thanks for the great article!

1 reply
User Profile: fruityPond7887
fruityPond7887 OP August 31st, 2022

@calmDew1576 I am so proud of you for taking a negative situation and finding the positive out of it! You're definitely not alone in the fact that lockdown allowed many people to realize that they weren't happy with their lives. I hope you were able to find what inspires you and now you are on the way to achieving that dream! I wish all the best for you! <3

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