Comment by sheepscreek

5 days ago

I would have guessed middle-aged men and women, not just men. I think the reason is being the sandwiched generation.

Most of us had/are having kids late. Now our parents are old/getting old and in need of our support. Along with that, parenting expectations have never been higher. So between shuttling kids from one thing to another all week, and taking parents to medical and other appointments, there isn’t much time or energy left to enjoy anything. It’s exhausting.

Combine that with someone already depressed, and any unfortunate trigger could push them over the edge. It’s partly anecdotal and some of what I’ve observed.

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sheepscreek

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hn_throwaway_99  5 days ago

Thanks for this comment, because I think it's probably the only comment I've read where the hypothesis at least matches what is seen in the graph in the article, as it's really only men ages 45-64 who have seen a recent rise. Rates for younger men 25-44 have held steady for about the past 20 years and are significantly down since the mid 90s and early 00s. And yes, this is an all time high for men 45-64, but that's following a large dip for this age group around 95-2005, and the current rate is only slightly above where it was in 1980. And rates are significantly down compared to rates 30 years ago for men older than 65.

paulryanrogers  3 days ago

If my kids feel they owe me or are responsible for my elder years then I've failed as a parent. My children didn't choose to be born.

That's why we invented social safety nets.

Now parenting expectations may be sky high. That doesn't mean we have to be consumed by them.

moralestapia  4 days ago

>I think the reason is being the sandwiched generation.

I agree, while most indicators should point to our lives being good overall, Millennials truly got screwed by their Boomer parent antics.

I feel like in a lot of important things, we suddenly went from being too young to being too old. Now we have responsibilities, heavier than our previous generation, but mostly lacked the support to build a stable foundation that can help taking care of those things.

It won't be as bad for GenZ/Alpha because Millenial parents are much more empathetic and supportive of their kids. Also, Boomers take care of their grandkids much more than their own kids, and also the Great Wealth Transfer will skip most Milennials and land directly over GenZ/Alpha.

I am overall optimistic on the outcome of AI, I think Alpha gen will live in a time of abundance and great opportunities. So, yeah, we were the shit gen between two great eras.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Wealth_Transfer

  • JackSlateur  4 days ago

    The world as we know it will end by the time GenZ/Alpha are "in charge", they will never get the opportunity to say anything

    As we speak, kids have been rapped by covid, lockdowns, meaningless studies, now jobless, apparently futureless and meaningless; That's 5 criticals years of their lives that is lost forever and that this generation will never recover from;

  • paulryanrogers  3 days ago

    > Great Wealth Transfer will skip most Milennials and land directly over GenZ/Alpha.

    It appears the transfer is not to their kids or even grandkids. It's going to rich kids and grandkids of healthcare executives. Healthcare and insurance should be a nonprofit service of the government.

    Crazy that medical issues can bankrupt an ever larger share of the population at any moment.