2016 & depression

[IndominusRex]

I was just wondering if anyone else has found that this year has had a really hard impact on them emotionally and in terms of mental health. I feel like all the big political events of the year have been hammering home the message 'you don't matter' and I feel as though that has crept into my brain and across my whole life, and that this is echoed in how I feel about work (and wasn't helped by having gone for some jobs I felt really passionate about and not getting them) and also some friendships drifting away. But I think I'd be coping with those thinga much better without all the background noise coming from the wider world.

The 'wider world' things are eg Ched Evans, Trump, Brexit, Amnesty, etc

Op, I think we are better off with times like these than those where people pretend. Where people just tolerate and allow things to happen because of fear of offending. This should give you and incentive and drive force to know how to deal with such issues.

I personally think this year has been great. When I say great I don't mean it as happy and fruitful but in away that it has shown people's true colours. Its was truly depressing because for some people what they had become reality. It's has shown what our society has been hiding in plain site. Some us love to dismiss issues and pretend that it's a one of, nothing big to worry about or because it will not affects us , Someone else's problem. This year it did practically affect everybody.
Socially, racially, sexually and big names who died too. No one was left out even the upper classes i.e. Royals got a slice of the year 2016.

Yes I know exactly what you mean. There's been so many things that have made me feel very depressed and scared this year. And hopeless too. I feel that meanness and hatred is winning in much of the world and that there are a lot of pp out there won don't hold the same values as me. I'm 50 and there have been bad times before but this feels different and I feel very uneasy about the direction in which things are heading. I wish there was something positive I could do to make a difference but I can't really see it and so I think I become more insular and wanting escapism as a result.

There has been a bleakness to this year...a struggle of politics and the grim reality of austerity...this is without the recession that's apparently looming...what can you do? I always think count your blessings make small differences and keep your fall out shelter stocked (0:

OP, this year has been a bloody shocker. It has almost made me give up hope in the human spirit because, as Quencher says, we always knew people thought like this, but this has brought it all out into the open.

2017 could go either way, the people who have been validated by the events of the year might be allowed to ride roughshod over everyone in order to create a world in their revolting image or it could become a time of huge social upheaval, where we lance the boil of the hateful beliefs that seem to have won out recently and thereby get rid of them for a time.

Either way, it's going to be a difficult few years ahead, I fear.

I've had a shit year personally.

Everything else tends to pale into insignificance.

The human race as always been motivated by self interest. It's nothing new. I think it's social media that has it beamed into one's space at a concentrated rate. It gets depressing and overwhelms.

I see sentiments expressed on social media that would've made my parents gasp in horror.

When one is on top of one's game, one can deal with children, work, elderly parents, money worries etc. But when problems arise, like ill health, or a rocky relationship it tips the balance. It's hard to keep seeing sunshine when the world looks like a hotbed of misery. I don't think it's changed, we just see it more.

My friend's 13-year-old daughter, has suddenly become depressed and when pushed she told her mother she was upset because there was so much stuff to fix in the world.

No-one has that big a toolkit. All you can do is your best, help where you can and when it becomes too much, be kind to yourself.

to exit and all those suffering.

One of my DBs is very well informed politically. He says he foresees war. All the signs are there.

I have also been very concerned we are going to have major wars.

People keep telling me use very few ground troops nowadays, so any war would be of a different kind.

Social media gives the impression that people are conflict driven, tribalism and self interested. I don't find most people that way at all offline.

If Russia moves on Europe we're going to have to rustle up some ground troops from somewhere.

Prawn, that's a view held by most of our military friends as well. Including analysts who, like your DB, know what they're about.

Still, at least it will give those people who keep going on about how Syrians and others should stay in their own countries and fight a chance to put their money where their mouths are. I expect they'll be the first to sign up to fight.

There's a few ground troops and then there is mass conscription. People keep reassuring me that the latter would not happen.

If Russia attempts to invade this country we will need to defend it. I don't see any appetite from the British public for agreeing to enter a massive war to defend Eastern Europe. I think people would revolt.

My DS are exactly the age if they start recruiting. I was thinking about it.

Yes, my kids are of that age, as well as nieces/nephews.

It is my main concern.

I think if Russia invades anywhere in Europe it would probably be very unwise not to help defend them. If they are successful once, they'll go for another bite. Very much as in WW2. On the bright side, the Russian economy is in ruins.

I don't believe there is any reason whatsoever to believe that Russia has any desire to invade the UK, or even Western Europe.

We live in a very different kind of society now. It would be very difficult to convince British young people to enter WW3.

It definitely does seem as though a lot of people are feeling as though something is off. I think the overall political climate is terrifying.
to @exit

I don't think Russia is interested in invading the UK but it would still be in our interests to defend Europe.

I'm just hoping that Russia is stretched too thin to do much more than make threatening noises.

There's a very great difference between you personally thinking we should enter a war with Russia and the country as a whole going along with that.

I said to my sister at the time of Brexit that I didn't know what was going on, that there was a huge amount of misinformation, but they are starting to drip into the water supply the propaganda that Russia are somehow our enemy and we should go to war with them.

I genuinely believe in an Internet age that there is no way most British families would send their teens off to war in Europe. It would cause mass revolts.

We're currently sending hundreds of troops to the Ukraine.

Russia has been pushing boundaries. It would be interesting if the USA sticks with Russia. Does that mean we as the UK will have to find another ally?

If a war was to happen I see it being more complicated, extreme and more damage than ever before.
However, it would have to be triggered by something massive. I can't see puttin doing but I can see him making threats, lots of threats.

Cyber wars being 'a thing' now and it can only get bigger.

What I see as a problem is the backlash from those who see pc has gone mad. You have two extreme ends clashing in all walks of life.
Feminist issues clashing with transgender (the people I see losing out is women).

Sexism and misogyny being backed by those who feel that have to challenge those who challenge their views. They are happy with the views too and social media has given them a platform where they can gang up on those who might oppose them.

The biggest bane is those who believe free speech means you have to be mean and horrible. Everything that comes out out their gob without thinking should be accepted and not challenged because they are free to say what they want. No sense of responsibility and respect for anyone other than themselves or those who agree with them.

I hate the way political discourse in America is so appallingly rude. Not tolerated here, I'm glad to say.

The government are sending troops. The government would conscript people. People might revolt against conscription.

People who are already in the army have made the decision that they're prepared to risk their lives in conflict zones. Convincing people with no military connection that they should do likewise is a totally different matter.