To think we wouldn't have as many MH problems if we lived differently

[Ginlette]

Panic attacks, anxiety, depression...

How much of this is happening because of the way our society is set up?

If we all lived in fairly small communities and had good relationships with friends and family near by, would we have these issues? If we had stable work that didn't feel like an impossible workload and paid fairly?

I'm even beginning to wonder whether "positives" of modern living are actually subtly undermining our MH as a society.

• The obvious examples being the Internet and phones, but also..
• Mobility: looks good on paper, but maybe the idea of the world being your oyster subconsciously is anxiety inducing?
• Travel: fun but frequent travel again contributes
• Home ownership and improvements, style & beauty inprovements: again this idea of we have choice, but is it contributing to a low level sense of always chasing?
• More freedom of partner and freedom to have children or be childfree: but does it create a "What if?" sensation past generations wouldn't have had fluttering at the edges of their mind?
• Remote working/self employed: I have done this for over a decade but does it maybe contribute to a sense of no base, no community?

This is something I feel strongly about and hope UC can be scrapped in favour of this. Non means tested way of allowing people to just live as they see fit.

We don't have to all fit into the same mould.

There are too many people everywhere which is not good. Look at all the wars currently. All based on greed somewhere along the line.

Having been thinking about this off and on, I wonder if maybe it’s more that we as humans haven’t yet evolved as we think we have, still making the same mistakes and never learning from them for many things, not respecting each other’s boundaries, differences, way of life if it doesn’t harm others and even if people are actually happy, assuming negatively, focused on what we don’t have instead of what we do, etc.

There are too many people everywhere which is not good.

Yes. I definitely feel better for living somewhere with a lower population density and a sense of open space and a big sky. I used to live in London and still like visiting big cities for the culture, but I do find the crowds oppressive.

@AllProperTeaIsTheft and yet those of us that know and feel like everywhere is too crowded and live in these smaller places are called NIMBYS for not wanting them to become concreted over with a million houses to look right into