Reply to Is older generation more mentally ill or the same?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Here and elsewhere, I see numerous complaints about manipulative elders and elders with narcissistic qualities.

Is there a percentage of any population that has these traits?

I’d like to think these types of issues are decreasing as we talk more openly about mental health and what constitutes a healthy relationship.

[/quote]

It’s a mix of things.  There have always been issues but people didn’t talk about them. Current Millennials and younger have greatly reduced life coping skills so label garden variety disagreement as “narcissism” or “manipulation.” Childhood lead poisoning and other environmental factors have impacted the elderly, particularly with respect to cognitive function. Cable news (both Fox and MSNBC) have made the elderly fearful and paranoid, and unable to see other perspectives. For Gen X and Millennials, social media creates a bubble of rigidly enforced agreement and thoughtless validation where even the most objectively crazy positions are taken seriously and never criticized. People don’t need each other as much as they used to due to the destruction of small businesses in favor of large corporations, so there’s a lot less “go along to get along.” Large chunks of our corporate infrastructure profit off of social isolation so encourage divisive narratives within families, often by turning average disagreement and normal quirks into pathologies. (Where would the pharma, therapy, medical, gun, and entertainment industries be if we weren’t so socially isolated these days?)

It’s a hard problem. [/quote]

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