The Toxicity of Modern Life
Reflecting on the decline of mental health.
Let's talk about this prison we've built ourselves.
It's dark, isolated, and riddled with self doubt capable of devouring any flicker of hope we may be given. An unforgiving place that we call home houses every emotion, every thought, every idea for a brighter future, kept just out of reach.
We're constantly exposed to multiple mediums responsible for killing our light. From TV shows and News programs to social media and even the people we interact with on any given day. These factors have almost guaranteed we remain trapped in our own minds, the prison we built.
So why did we allow these interactions to gain so much power over us? Well to be honest, we really didn't know it was happening until it was too late, and we really didn't have a choice.
Social media has been the largest contributor to the decline of mental health, predominantly in the more recent generations. This is partly due to the growing influencer communities building a career based upon the opinions of their followers. The simplest example follows this pattern; an Influencer gains popularity on social media, endorses products either of their own, or of a sponsor to be bought by their followers and are paid either for their exposure alone, or by commission from affiliate sales.
This business model has seen an exponential increase in 'Influencers', which is part of the cause of the rising suicide rates in more recent generations. We've killed our ability to share emotion, gambling so much mental strength based solely on what the opinions of others are. This would be enough of a trigger alone, but pair that with the financial stress of basing a single income on this model, and you are left with a recipe for depression, anxiety and stress that will be immensely difficult to overcome unless properly managed.
Don't get me wrong, I'm obsessed with the ways we are growing and changing in modern life, the issue isn't that we are changing or adapting to find new ways to live life. Change is a necessary part of our evolution. Our issue is we are convinced we know what we're doing, when in actual fact, we are still learning and experimenting. Therefore when we're met with failures, it's impossible to see them as learning opportunities, instead we let these failures plant the seeds of doubt in our minds, and we've let them grow out of control.
We've forgotten that when one door closes, another door opens. This has clouded our vision and kept us trapped inside our own minds, ensuring our ideas and concepts never see the light, keeping our emotions from being shared with the world. All we need to do is take a chance, open a door and let them out.
Remember this—Emotion kills Toxicity.
We can win this war, we just need the right influence.
About the Creator
Dale Smith
Just a guy writing his chapter in the book of life.
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