New evidence from Australia: Recent increases in depression/anxiety are largest for youngest age group.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19maacSq_DYIaQ-IccCS3psBAvCy24GNt709Tl_L5AhM/edit#heading=h.ccarcgxjybsw

Jonathan Haidt

@JonHaidt

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10m



The book is called The Coddling of the AMERICAN mind, but does it apply in other countries? So far, we can say with some confidence that the trends we describe in the book are spreading throughout the major English speaking countries, especially the paranoid parenting, overprotection, safetyism, social media immersion, and rising rates of teen depression, anxiety, and self-harm. Here is what we have found so far:

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The United Kingdom

We are conducting two large literature reviews examining trends in the USA and UK together, one examines mental health trends, the other examines the evidence that social media is a contributor to the rise in teen depression and anxiety disorders. You can get to them, and (if you are a researcher) contribute to them from this page.

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Australia

Jon visited Australia in July 2019 and found that most of the trends in The Coddling are indeed coming to Australia, except that the "lucky country" has less political polarization, and its university students mostly live at home and commute, so there is much less political activism than on American campuses. But Aussies are overprotecting their kids, and their teens are increasingly anxious and depressed.

See our open-source Google doc analyzing Australian trends here:  The Coddling of the Australian Mind
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New Zealand ​

Jon visited New Zealand in August 2019 and found that most of the trends in The Coddling are indeed coming to New Zealand, except that Kiwis seem far more committed to "free range childhoods" than are Americans, Brits, Canadians or Australians. They also have mostly non-residential universities, and therefore much less political activism on campus. The teen mental health crisis is coming, but seems to be several years delayed compared to the other English speaking nations.

See our open-source Google doc analyzing trends in New Zealand here: The Coddling of the Kiwi Mind  

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Canada

Canadians seem to have caught every aspect of America's disease, except that its politics is less polarized and dysfunctional. But its parents are just as paranoid (despite the very low crime rates), and its teens are just as depressed and anxious.

See our open-source Google doc analyzing trends in Canada here: The Coddling of the Canadian Mind

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Continental Europe

As far as we can tell, the Germanic and Scandinavian countries have not fallen for paranoid parenting and overprotection like the English-speaking countries. They still send their kids to "forest schools" and let kids play outside with friends, unsupervised, by age 6. Lower levels of inequality and status anxiety have been credited with taking off some of the pressure that American parents place on children. We will soon be examining mental health trends among European teens.

Spain: Jon will visit Madrid and give a public lecture on Sept. 30. He will create a Google doc for Spain before he leaves.

​https://www.thecoddling.com/international-coddling

Can't really blame them for being depressed...

Not with this 'neo-liberal' conservative government we have at the moment..

Increasing casual work/underemployment, housing unaffordability, environmental degradation;  decreasing opportunities;  cost-of-living increases greatly outstripping incomes..

Has nothing to do with politics

Australia

Jon visited Australia in July 2019 and found that most of the trends in The Coddling are indeed coming to Australia, except that the "lucky country" has less political polarization, and its university students mostly live at home and commute, so there is much less political activism than on American campuses. But Aussies are overprotecting their kids, and their teens are increasingly anxious and depressed.

See our open-source Google doc analyzing Australian trends here:  The Coddling of the Australian Mind

That bunch of dildo-brained 'researchers' are cherrypicking their facts and figures, to try and fit their pre-arranged agendas...

Suicide rates and levels of chronic depression among teens and 20-somethings were already high before the rise of the current mollycoddled generation..

It didn't need some overseas ratbags to fallaciously claim that suicide is being imported from the USA --  not when the problems have been recognised down here for more than 30 years already.

'Wolfie wrote:

That bunch of dildo-brained 'researchers' are cherrypicking their facts and figures, to try and fit their pre-arranged agendas...

Suicide rates and levels of chronic depression among teens and 20-somethings were already high before the rise of the current mollycoddled generation..

It didn't need some overseas ratbags to fallaciously claim that suicide is being imported from the USA --  not when the problems have been recognised down here for more than 30 years already.

This is a leading left wing expert but you who has no expertise in this has not even studied his work. Think you know better. As per usual you sport uneducated crap

It may pay if you did, considering the pattern is being repeated in many countries. Where there has beren a rise in the younger age groups

Of which his work has shown that social media is playing a huger part in the rise of anxiety and depression espcially in young girls

May I suggest before you spout your usual uneducated crap you actually look at the data on this

Frrankly this just further proves what a complete odious imbcillie you are

https://docs.google.com/document/d/19maacSq_DYIaQ-IccCS3psBAvCy24GNt709Tl_L5AhM/edit#heading=h.ccarcgxjybsw