The Path Forward

It’s no surprise that many corners of our world are feeling unsettled. Although I don’t think that necessarily sets this generation apart from previous ones, I can’t help but feel the need to highlight some unique differences like rising rates of “deaths of despair”, reflect on the state of things, and share some words of hope and encouragement.

First, the reflection.

A recent report by the US National Academy of Sciences has highlighted that “deaths of despair” have been steadily rising in the US (Sterling & Platt, 2022). The name sounds exactly like it is; deaths that are attributable to states of despair and chronic psychological stress like suicide, drug overdose, overconsumption of calorically dense, satiating food, and absence of any meaningful physical activity. Outcomes like these can’t only be attributed to “weakness” or “laziness”, as many cultural critics would assert; the human brain has overcome far greater obstacles in our ancestors’ past, and those lessons are deeply embedded in our neural wiring. What is new to our species is the excessive access to inputs that satisfy and numb the feelings that otherwise drive us to do great things in the face of great obstacles.

This is undoubtedly the first time in human history that we are dying at the hands of what we have rather than what we don’t have.

These outcomes are absolutely related, although finding the chicken or the egg in the equation can be challenging. If I had to bet, I would place psychological distress as the first domino in this unfortunate situation. Psychological distress stemming from life’s trials and tribulations is certainly nothing new, but our fortitude to weather the storms seems to have diminished. Without individual resilience and social supports like quality relationships and a sense of belonging, our brain desperately searches for analgesics in all shapes and forms. Enter; drugs, food, television, and leading the ship, a reactive and exhausting denial of the pain in our lives. All of these responses fall under the umbrella of addiction, which is more or less a state of slavery to a thinning band of behaviours or substances that ultimately alleviate degrees of pain for a moment.

We cling to substances like drugs, behaviours like quick sex, and pastimes like bad television because they all modulate our pain and pleasure balance. All of these things (and more) are effective at alleviating our psychological distress. Distress is characterized by excessive levels of neurotransmitters and neuromodulators that make us “uncomfortable”, such as glutamate, dynorphin (the discomfort endogenous opioid), and cortisol, and activities that help cause a release of dopamine, noradrenaline, serotonin, endogenous opioids, GABA, or combinations of all help alleviate our suffering.

So it’s no wonder that we’ve landed where we are; we have surrounded ourselves with inputs that directly influence how we feel but have no effect on how things actually are. For example, we feel bad about our bodies, so we watch TV to temporarily distract ourselves to alleviate that discomfort, negatively impacting our self-image (and actual body). It’s a nasty cycle, indeed.

The Path Forward

The path forward is steep but traversable. As I said before, although this particular obstacle is new to our species, our ability to apply lessons learned and grow stronger from challenges is not; that’s sorta our thing.

So if at the top of this problem is psychological distress, that is where the solution lies.

Reducing psychological distress is a highly personal journey requiring a belief that you are capable of not becoming one of the statistics mentioned above and, instead, that you can live as an example of hope for those stuck in one of those nasty cycles. Ram Dass always said, “the best thing I can do for you is to work on myself”, and I don’t think that has ever been more true. The journey of becoming psychologically well is the greatest thing you can do for yourself, your family, and your much larger human family.

Some practical advice that I can offer (I also recommend reading the other articles here) is to recognize the places in which you are stuck in those cycles and to, as you would for a dear friend, begin to craft up potential ideas and routes you can take to begin breaking them down. If a friend came to you with a problem, you probably wouldn’t recommend them to go pick up a drug habit or to play 10 hours of video games (or maybe you would, I’m not sure, let’s pretend here). Instead, you might try to listen and try to identify the root cause of their problem; maybe they’re having a tough time in a relationship, or their self-image could use some improvement. Try journalling or consciously reflecting on the thoughts and feelings that come up throughout your day that seem to precede your search for numbing agents like TV, drugs, or video games. Start small; you don’t have to change your entire life overnight. This is your journey; much like the parable says, it’s not about the destination but the journey itself. Help people along your way. Recognize how you see yourself in them, and instead of responding in anger, respond with love, see that they wound up in their situation much in the same way you wound up in yours. All of these practices are steps on the path of resilience; this journey is surely not made alone.

So I hope that anyone who has made it to the end of this piece isn’t curled up into a ball, never to go out into the world again; I hope the general effect of this has been to make you aware of some sombre realities, yet instilled you with a deep belief that there is a way forward and that we will come out of this on the other side a stronger, more resilient individual.

Sterling, P., & Platt, M. L. (2022). Why Deaths of Despair Are Increasing in the US and Not Other Industrial Nations—Insights From Neuroscience and Anthropology. JAMA Psychiatry, 79(4), 368–374. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2021.4209