How do you cope with living in this depressing era

[Prendetew]

Posting here for traffic.

I know the news is always negative and every decade has its bad moments but the 2020s seem particularly shit. I'm in my 30s and I can't remember ever living in such a depressing time like this.

Epstein files, rise of the far right globally, ICE, student debt, rising house prices, billionaire oligarchs controlling media and governments, climate change, the list goes on...

This is the world we have to live in right now. How do you deal with it and not despair? I guess limiting news consumption is an idea but isn't that just burying your head in the sand?

It feels like we're all in some kind of pressure cooker of hatred, divisikn and angst and its not healthy. A friend suffered a racist attack last week. It was caught on video and yhe perpetrator had 0 shame, he was like a man possessed. It's really shook me how emboldened ignorant racists have become thanks to the likes of Trump/ Reform etc

Interesting. I studied this as part of my degree. Nation-states are a relatively recent development in human civilization, and the idea of a unifying "shared history" or "shared culture" is a type of myth used by the nation state to prop up its legitimacy. Our ideas of shared history/culture have far more to do with a manufactured consent to the govt-citizen contract, and keeping order, than anything real such as identity and personal experience (though both are used to ensure buy-in by the population).

Put another way, you only have true shared history and true shared culture with the people you live alongside - your very local community, family and friends. Nation states and patriotism are fine, and the myths are useful to a certain extent. They help maintain social order and peace. Where patriotism becomes problematic is when one local community's history and culture are put forward as the only "true" version of x and enforced on a national scale - everything else either must conform or be seen as a threat to be vanquished. Whereas the truth of any nation state is that there is a mix of multiple versions of what it means to be x. A kaleidoscope of identities, a constellation of experiences and worldviews. Your shared local history and shared local culture are not and can not be diminished by the presence of other local histories and local cultures within your shared nation-state. We are all simply parts of our nations - not the whole. And - importantly - our nations are not us.

Signed, a born-and-bred Kiwi who dislikes rugby, thinks the All Blacks are boring, and the Aussies can have the dang pavlova because it's gross (Gasp! Expel the unbeliever!) I did however grow up hanging out on the local tennis court, shout out to Lorde for that. Though I know many Kiwis who didn't ...

OP I understand your feelings. I have often wondered if we're feeling what people in 1930s across the world were - varying states of unease, if not witnessing outright oppression (have family in the US, it's not good times in some parts there at present). However it's important to remember this is speculation and while we can watch and be wary, we can also turn the dial down on those overwhelming feelings by our actions. There are some great books out there on this subject.

I bake. I read - mostly fiction. I listen to good music. I do puzzles. I'm thinking through ways I can give back to my local community. I light candles. I inhale essential oils. I focus on the here and now. And I switch my phone off, get away from the news and the noise. This is how I cope.

Also - I watch the snowboarders in the Olympics happening now. The camaraderie, sportsmanship, and joy across multiple cultures is a sight to behold. Highly recommend.

Worse than the threat of IRA bombs obliterating your family, constant Power cuts and strikes ( 70’s and 80’s) ?
Worse than the real threat of Nuclear war (60’s) ?
Worse than living through WW2 and rationing for years afterwards?
Worse than losing most, if not all, of your Male relatives in WW1, followed by Spainsh Flu that killed more than the War?
Life today is bliss in comparison.
Stay off social media and the ‘news’.

It's just different times, not worse.
Young people today have got so many more opportunities compared to my parents/grandparents who lived their lives in one place and have never gone abroad. They spent many years of their lives queuing for food or clothes in the 70s and 80s. My great-grandfather fought in the war and everybody thought he was dead, then he returned 2 years later. Life was hard on the farm. My other great-grandfather was shot by the Nazis while trying to escape Auschwitz days after Hitler's death. My grandmother was 4, she had 3 siblings and poor mom who earnt money for food working as a servant.
I've had a cushioned life compared to that and still moaned a lot when I was young. And my kids have it even better but they don't realise, still moan a lot.

That era was one the most stable in history and is recognised as such.

You are talking tosh. That government was the most popular ever and won 3 landslides

i don’t consume it. I get that in privileged to be able to choose. Me knowing what’s happening doesn’t help anyone else. So I stay in my own bubble. This is the best and easiest era because I’m no longer being trafficked. I am safe and free. It wasn’t easier for me before , it’s easier now.
I have very little idea what’s happening around the world. I just focus on what’s immediately around me.

Agree. We've got the racism, sexism and homophobia becoming vocalised again, war in Europe, PLUS the global march of the far right, cost of living crisis, crippled NHS, and bloody AI to worry about.

I really miss New Labour. I miss politics that were pragmatic. I can't stand the pantomime of Trump and Reform and the current Government is an utter shambles

This era is no worse than any other, really. People talk as if it was, but that's because of 24 hour news and also news on phones. A lot of the things that people are obsessing about now, like the Epstein files, actually happened in the past, and it is now that the victims are demanding justice. A few decades ago, historic abuses like that would have just been buried. If you look at it like that, it helps put things in perspective. It's like seeing stars: you see them, they are real, but they actually emitted their light source aeons ago.

No, they aren't talking 'tosh'. Unlike some others on here, I don't see the 90s and 00s as a golden era at all. For me, the closest thing we had to a 'golden era' was about '08-15', and even that is highly subjective and also wasn't perfect as there was the financial crisis. However, I would argue that social media was better then, and AI wasn't such a menace as it is now. There is good and bad in every era.

There have been slightly rubbish times before and there will be again. Mostly I try not to listen to the doom mongers who wang on about "broken Britain", constantly talk the country down, and would have you believe that patriotism is displayed by how loudly you declare your country is a shithole. I also try not to stress about things I can't control. I spend time with my family and out in nature, am thankful for what I have, and make plans for the future whilst living for today.

Me and my 2 oldest kids are very depressed. My son is nearly 20, autistic and signed off work as he can't cope. My daughter doesn't cope at school so never goes. It's awful.

Why is this era any more depressing than any other? Does nobody know any modern history?
At random, 1914-18 - World War One
1929, into the 1930s - Wall Street Crash & worldwide depression (with no proper welfare state)
1940s - World War Two, detonation of nuclear bomb
1950s - continuation of rationing
1960s - continued sexism, racism (no legislation until mid 1970s), women still had to leave certain jobs when they married, Cold War & Cuban Missile Crisis
1970s - IRA bombings, power cuts, 3 day weeks, endless strikes, economic failure
1980s - 3 million unemployed, miners' strike, Cold War continues, AIDS crisis
1990s onwards - Iraq War, failure of New Labour, Afghan war, stock market crashes, pandemic, rise of social media

Throughout history, men (and women), will have behaved badly - maybe we didn't always hear about it, but cruelty and abuse has always existed. We are much better protected these days than we were when I was young, especially as women. No, the world's not perfect, but it never will be. If the news bothers you, OP, just stop watching, or stick to the less sensational providers (eg Radio 4). Above all, get a sense of perspective.

Watch less news

Also in my 30s and im pretty happy. I think its because I bury my head in the sand. Not even out of choice but I just feel too busy these days to read the news. I dont have any social media apps to scroll through either. Compared to my husband who seems very down about things and reads all the news.

Sometimes he'll tell me about something in__ the news and I'll say "ooohhh thats awful" but honestly I feel so removed from it and im better off not knowing...!

We don't have a lot of choice about the era we are living in. As well as lots of bad things there are some good things too.

I was born in the 60's, I keep my circle small, never watch the news, appreciate the little things, take short breaks often, post very short nature videos cos I'm grateful to be lucky enough to get out regularly. Only use one social media platform, that's all about bird watching and nature, ignore politics, and negative people

I am loving watching the winter olympics and doing various hobbies. The media love negative stories and political fallings out. They rarely report anything good unless it’s related to sport.

Go and think about all the terrible things in history. People living off half a load of bread a day. Sowing one seed and getting about four back in return, but still having to save one of those for next year's crop. Women essentially being owned by the men in their lives. For the most part everyone being astonishingly poor. Dying from dirty water. No running hot water. How high the murder rate would be in the past. Being married off like a chattel with divorce not an option. Being burned for religious heresy. Being enslaved. Being raped and it being judged as your sin.

people can't afford to

There is some wonderful stuff too. Just like always.

SOME people can't afford to.😎

Why not get involved yourself and try to make a positive change? There's so much people can do - volunteering, campaigning, even just donating money... everyone has a role to play

The same as I lived in past times of chaos. Just get on with it. It ends eventually.

I refuse to spend emotional energy on things outside my control. If I'm not willing to do anything about it then it obviously doesn't matter to me much (posting on mumsnet doesn't count as taking action). I make my life, and the life of people I regularly come into contact with, as nice as I can. I work hard, play hard and relax hard too. It's an amazing time to be alive