Materialism and Psychological Problems

A more materialistic culture is to blame as to why there have been an increase in psychological problems in teens since the 1930s. This idea is presented in the article, "Today's Teens More Anxious, Depressed and Paranoid Than Ever." They state that teenagers are experiencing more psychological problems and stress than students in the 1930s and 1940s. They state that the root cause for these issues is that the United States experienced a societal change. Our society became more focused on actual tangible objects. We became a materialistic culture. They say that has also impacted our healthy role models, to the point where we have none. They say that we have no healthy role models for our kids, and as a result our kids have psychological issues and behavioral issues and that will extend to the next generation. It is a vicious cycle. They blame our consumer culture for a our materialistic values which has led to the psychological problems teens face today. 

 I can understand how our consumer culture can lead to these problems. I understand that our materialistic values can be to blame for being more self-orientated, narcissistic, but at the same time I do not understand how this can cause teenagers to be more unsatisfied with life, being more worried and sad. I do not understand how materialism can be the cause for that. I am forced to believe that, yes our consumer culture can have an influence on our psychological status, but I do not believe that this is the only cause. I would have to say there has to be other reasons our society has become more psychologically stresses.

 Perhaps we can attribute this to the increased violence we see in the media, video games, movies, and the news. That can explain why teens are dissatisfied with life. That can explain why they are so worried. At the same time, we can also blame politics. We can blame what goes on in the political world, as to why we are like this. Politicians focus on certain issues, they skew facts, and we listen to what they have to say. If they skew the right things, and they focus on certain issues, we will be more stressed in life. We cannot just blame our consumer culture, and our materialistic values as the reason why we as a society are psychologically stressed. There is more to the story than just materialistic values cause increased psychological stress and contribute to psychological problems. One shift in values cannot be responsible for stress and psychological problems. That is an illogical assumption. It has to be that and other changes in society that have led to where we are now.

An article about consumerism and its problems.
http://www.apa.org/monitor/jun04/discontents.aspx

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miss Representation 1

In the documentary Miss Representation , they talk about how in the United States women are miss represented and under represented in everything from politics to science fields. It describes how there is a difference between the things men do and the things women do. It brought up a bunch of statistics saying that more than fifty percent of the United States population is female, but then it brought up how in these jobs they are not even close to a majority. For example Congress, only seventeen percent of Congress is female. They then went to say that the root cause of this is the media. The way the media portrays women gives us the idea that this is the way life needs to be. Where females are under represented and forced to do only certain jobs. It also briefly touched on the subject where it also makes men feel that they have to be masculine, and it defines what is and what is not masculine. I agree that women are still at a disadvantage when it comes to men. They are miss represen...
Read more

Verizon's Marketing Strategy

For the past few weeks I have been analyzing Verizon Wireless. I have been analyzing their marketing strategy and their techniques used to convey their message. They are trying to target your average white, working middle class, family of four. They are trying to convey the idea that your family life could be better, and more connected than you already are. They are saying that your family life could be better. They are trying to make you believe that in order for your family life to be good, Verizon needs to be a part of that life. They are trying to make Verizon an essential part of your family life. They are trying to convey this idea by focusing on their unlimited plan. They are trying to convey that they are better by saying that other companies have failed you, and that Verizon will deliver on everything you want. They are trying to make the argument that they are better than everyone else. They however are also making you make the assumption that bigger is better, that being the...
Read more