Why are we becoming less and less happy?

This post was last edited by Zhongyuanren on 2016-10-3 05:47. Why are we becoming less and less happy? In modern society, with abundant material resources, advances in medicine, widespread education, and greater safeguards, people should logically be happier. Strangely, since the mid-20th century, there has been a significant increase in cases of depression. Entering the 21st century, mood disorders have become as common as the common cold among mental illnesses; almost one in ten people has suffered from some form of mood disorder to varying degrees. Moreover, the age at which these disorders occur is getting younger, with even young children experiencing problems such as self-harm and suicide. Positive psychologist Martin Seligman believes that inflated self-esteem is a risk factor for depression. Modern people adhere to individualism, placing personal interests above those of the collective, and are no longer willing to make efforts for grand goals that go beyond the individual, such as those related to **, society, groups, family, and beliefs. Because they believe that living for God, for **, for society, for the family, etc., places many responsibilities on a person’s shoulders, deprives them of freedom, and makes them unhappy ； On the contrary, by constantly consuming, entertaining oneself, using drugs, and satisfying sexual desires, one tries to feel good, using this as a remedy for depression. But they failed to understand that life gains more meaning when one can attach themselves to a greater being. Faith, **, society, groups, and family – once spiritual comforts that helped prevent depression – have gradually lost their effectiveness for modern people. The further an individual moves away from larger entities and becomes more individualistic, the less meaning there is in life; self-inflation instead becomes a breeding ground for depression. Furthermore, when an individual feels more important than others, justifies their actions absolutely, overvalues the goals they set for themselves, and regards feeling happy as the ultimate goal in life, they will become extremely depressed when they realize they are unable to achieve those goals ； When faced with failure, the hurt is even greater. Modern people go to great lengths to find happiness, but it turns out that feeling unhappy also has its advantages; it motivates us to take action to change ourselves or our environment in order to eliminate the feelings of pain. For example: Anxiety tells you that there is danger around you ； Worries remind you that there could be significant losses ； Sadness signifies that you have lost something very important in life… Since negative emotions are uncomfortable, they drive us to change the situation as soon as possible, to confront dangers, defend against threats, and minimize losses.

Distractions of all kinds – useful and useless, matters worth caring about and those that don’t – keep the mind preoccupied.

Thinking too much and doing too little leads to unhappiness.

There are too many social temptations, and we get too little, so our expectations become even higher; but reality isn’t like that, so-------------------