Wk of 1.16.17

With babyboomers retiring and the 'latchkey' generation X (work hard: play hard motto) falling into those retired positions the milleniums will be the main group contributing to the economy. Mentioned in the article is the stress that millenials experience from generation X'ers and babyboomers putting pressure on them to work, work, work when in fact the view of a balanced life view amongst millenials should eventually equate to less stress in the job place. With the advent of advanced telecommunication technology and emails, one would predict that less time would need to be dedicated to driving to meetings, after hour meetings, and petty office tasks that have encumbered babyboomers in the past. Technology leaves more time to do actual work, such as seeing patients, and can afford a more balanced work day schedule.
Millenials need to be cautious about texting as a solo means of communication as Seltzer in later publications comments how texting not only releases a dopamine high but also the love hormone, oxytocin is released! In as much as coffee increasing dopamine receptors in the brain and is being implemented to treat mild ADHD, texting also will increase receptors in our tubulofundibular pathway creating a dependance. Can texting withdrawal be considered as a physiological stress trigger for depression, anxiety, bipolar? Interesting, Seltzer (2009) continues to comment that young 'tweens' who texted their mothers after a test felt less relaxed than when they called their mother. Perhaps, this proposes a necessary chemical need from our brains for human interaction and the soon to be obsolete phone call!! Is this the contribution to more millenials suffering with mental health disorders...??

The article was insightful. As a mother of 5 millennials, My take on the depression that haunts this generation is the instant gratification they have had through their lives. In previous generations, the focus was on meeting needs. Because our economy had grown so well during the '80's and 90's, we were able to give our children what they wanted, not just needed. Then, they were raised with the advent of the electronic era where wants were met at a much faster rate, frequently instantaneously. This is echoed in the article where he talks about the good feelings coming from the responses to posts. In a real world situation, instant gratification is impossible on the grand scale of the work place. In addition to the gratification, millennials also seem to need daily recognition. When instant gratification and/or recognition is lacking on a daily scale, some of these millennials sink into depression. Frustration with the obvious, has led me personally, to more of an angry response to this behavior, in the past. So, this article sheds some light on the topic. Why they are not seeking care, is another topic of debate. Is it because insurance may not cover psychiatric care? (Obamacare was supposed to mandate coverage on all policies when it took effect) Or is the reason they do not seek care altogether different such as lack of insight or more severe psychiatric disorders underlying their depression? This is, without a doubt, a good topic for research.

This article touches upon not only a very important topic, depression, but also upon both the neurological and also environmental influences that play a role in creating depression. While technology, and as a natural extension, social media, may have made things 'easier' per se, in terms of being able to communicate with one another, what is important to be cognizant of is that this is a double edged sword. The article mentioned, for instance, how we have become so involved in the various forms of social media and therefore continue to be inundated by 'updates' of how our peers are doing. This can easily lead to feelings of inadequacy and ultimately, at least contribute to the environmental role of developing depression. I commend the fact that society is now shifting the tide, into recognizing how depression is a serious medical illness which can be debilitating for the patient and also affect his or her loved ones. The older generation, as in the baby boomers, would place too little emphasis, if any at all, on the role of mental health as a whole. I believe that as time progresses, more and more credence will be given to the validity of depression and mental health, and more attention will be paid to the societal/environmental factors that contribute to its etiology as well.

While I agree with the sentiment that millennials have some of the most under reported cases when it comes to depression, I also believe that a lot of the under reporting is because of the stigma associated with having a mental disorder in the work place. Not only so, but the word "depression" has become so over used in every day vernacular, that when people are actually depressed, it is not taken seriously because the word has become a synonym for sadness. Work Culture can also lead to depression because of the strain imposed by well-meaning bosses to maintain perfection, although this is a gargantuan and sometimes impossible task.

Geez, where to begin. I feel like I'd need to write an article just to discuss this article.

While I understand that it can be useful to break up the population into generations, it doesn't seem well understood that these are arbitrary age groups that are not even universally agreed upon. The downside to breaking up the population into generations is the "Us vs Them" mentality that gets introduced. There is nothing particularly noteworthy about the Millennial generation being labeled as lazy or too self-involved, like the article mentions, because every older generation says that about the generation that follows. So I'm not entirely sure that how the generation is perceived is relevant to the discussion of why is the age group reporting depression at a higher rate.

I haven't seen the studies from which the article is pulling its data so it's hard to see what they've controlled for. My first impression is that perhaps as the perception of depression changes so does a willingness to report it. The article does mention that awareness of the seriousness and legitimacy of depression is an important issue but fails to really understate that awareness and public perception of its legitimacy has steadily improved over time. Perhaps the differences in rates of depression between the generations simply comes down to our changing culture and therefore a willingness to report.

The article brings up social media and its effects on mental health. While I don't deny the negative impact it CAN have, I think it muddies the waters for discussion. Social Media is not exclusively used by the Millennial generation and doesn't always have a negative impact. I think if we were to go back, we could find another instances of a past generations equivalent to "social media" as the new and dangerous thing the upcoming generation is dealing with.

If there was a true difference in the rates of depression between generations that couldn't be explained by a difference in self reporting, I would think it may have more to do with the change in the way young adults enter and navigate the workforce. Long gone are the days of starting as an entry level employee at a large company, moving up the ladder and working there until you die. You can no longer work over the summer part-time and have the upcoming year's tuition paid for. Companies will intentionally keep your hours low as to avoid providing benefits. Many require experience even for entry level positions, rendering the term almost useless at this point. Many baby boomers genuinely do not understand how drastically things have changed since they were in that generation's shoes and the disapproval for their "failure to thrive" is often thinly veiled. What kind of impact does this have on people trying to make it on their own?

Personally, I have not heard of the term Millennials before reading this article. However, I have to agree that we have been raised in such a way where we are told that everything is going to be okay, all you have to do is participate. Fortunately, many of us have outgrown of the situation and figured out on our own or by help of others that we have to actually do work hard and earn our reputations. It is painful to see when I confront with a spoiled friend who does not take care of the things they need to do. Increased rate of depression in this generation is not unexpected since they want more and more. Happiness and satisfaction does not come from getting what they want, it comes from learning to be satisfied with what they have. You can be happy with nothing on your hand and you can be depressed with billion dollars on your bank account, it is crucial to understand what is important in life and live accordingly. 

It has become increasingly evident that millennials spend a vast majority of their time connecting with “friends” on social media. This can be a major cause of the increasing mental health problems the generation is facing. For many of the millennials social media has become an integrated component of human interaction. Recently researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine conducted a study about the effects of social media habits on the moods of users, which found that the more time users spent on social media, the more likely they are to be depressed. Why does increased exposure to social media cause depression? It could be due to our own exaggerated expectation, and realizing that others are fulfilling their dreams while we are still struggling to launch ourselves. While we see the highly idealized representations of our peers’ lives we get the feelings of envy and the distorted belief that they are leading happier, more successful lives. I believe that distancing ourselves from the distractions of social media is a good place to start about feeling better about ourselves.