I always love your stuff, but was really disturbed by the social media information provided on this episode. I adamantly disagree with your guest and it goes against a ton of research and information by mental heath professionals. She called out The Anxious Generation book as being essentially bad information. I couldn’t disagree more.
I bring on guests that have done their research and make us think.
I personally don't think social media is the singular cause of (seemingly) declining mental health in kids and teens, but I also think it has likely had an influence.
I also think we need better research—most studies that find social media hurts kid/teen mental health are really bad, as the consensus report in the show notes pointed out.
I think one of Taylor's larger points is that blaming declining mental health on social media entirely could lead to policy changes that do more harm than good, which feels like an important thing to think about.
Thanks for your response and perspective. It’s much appreciated and very nice that you take the time to respond to your readers/listeners.
I can agree that social media isn’t the only factor in the declining mental health of our society, but I think it’s a big one. I certainly don’t know what the answer is, but I agree with you that it would help a lot to be around people more and be outside!
Thanks for the content that you continue to put out. It’s always interesting and relevant, even when I don’t agree.
On a side note, The Comfort Crisis is one of my favorite books. I’ve read it a few times myself and also gifted it to family and friends. Excellent read.
I think it’s great that you have differing opinions on here, since people need to hear both sides.
On the alcohol topic - I appreciate Dean’s opinion, especially the end where he’s not saying everyone should add it back in if they are otherwise happy. He’s obviously someone that lives in cities, likes to bar hop, do adventurous things, and the inhibition lowering affect of alcohol does him a lot of good. He also might have given up on being sober too soon and never learned how to be more open and lower inhibition without needing alcohol to do so. Kids don’t meed alcohol to be goofy and have fun. Adults don’t either, but it takes time and effort to do so. If you’re not willing to work on that while sober, alcohol might be best for those people.
In Wendy Bounds book or other anecdotes of people opening up and lowering inhibition while drinking - it’s nice alcohol gives them that feeling of finally letting loose a little bit but there’s also a sadness there - that so many can’t do so without the help of alcohol. That’s not exactly healthy either.
The other issue is Dean and others act like they’re only having 1-2 drinks which is likely not the case. It’s more like 2-3 and 4-6+ on his bar hopping nights. If that’s once a month that’s fine but people struggle having just 1-2 drinks.
Most people have at least 50-100+ days/events a year (birthdays, holidays, weddings, parties, work happy hours, vacations, etc) where they will have a drink which usually ends up being 2-3 drinks. Thats a lot of days and therefore lot of nights with poor food choices and poor sleep. That adds up.
I feel like in an ideal world, kids would be more emotionally vulnerable and outgoing, and go into adulthood with 3rd places that don’t need drinking to get the much needed socialization and fun.
With screen time going up, that seems unlikely… so maybe they and a lot of us do need to drink a little more.
It seems like Dean ultimately likes fun in his life and he thinks alcohol helps him with that.
What is Catherine Price’s opinion on FUN without alcohol? Interviewing her and focusing on the nuance of alcohol vs non alcohol fun, and third places with or without alcohol would be an interesting conversation!
Up until about a year ago I would have said I was a “moderate” drinker. Then I started counting my drinks. Nope: not moderate. Immoderate! And as I got older (I’m 61) I felt the costs of drinking more and more, especially the day after. So I’ve cut my consumption dramatically. Most days I don’t drink, though I still enjoy a beer with my buddies from time to time. I feel immeasurably better physically when I’m not drinking. And I experience no “social” cost as Dean reports … but I wonder if that’s because at my age, I just am who I am and it doesn’t take alcohol to open the door to fun Tom. I’m fun Tom all the time (my wife would love this one!). I’d suggest the answer is not to go back to drinking but to work on accessing your fun self whenever you want.
I hate to tell Dean, but as a physician with over 50 years of clinical experience and an interest in neuroscience, I can assure you that any amount of alcohol is neurotoxic--period! The best dose is indeed zero.
I think that's exactly what the episode said: If you look at alcohol from a singular health/medical lens, you'll probably find it's entirely bad. But if you zoom out, you can make larger considerations about your tradeoffs, your life, and how you want to live it. And that might allow you to make personal decisions that improve your overall health.
Yet I can't imagine a world where alcohol improves your overall health in any way. Along with ultra-processed food, it is also a prime driver of diet-induced brain dysfunction or CARB syndrome: https://carbsyndrome.com/
I gave up alcohol years ago, and my quality of life has never been better!
I always love your stuff, but was really disturbed by the social media information provided on this episode. I adamantly disagree with your guest and it goes against a ton of research and information by mental heath professionals. She called out The Anxious Generation book as being essentially bad information. I couldn’t disagree more.
I bring on guests that have done their research and make us think.
I personally don't think social media is the singular cause of (seemingly) declining mental health in kids and teens, but I also think it has likely had an influence.
I also think we need better research—most studies that find social media hurts kid/teen mental health are really bad, as the consensus report in the show notes pointed out.
I think one of Taylor's larger points is that blaming declining mental health on social media entirely could lead to policy changes that do more harm than good, which feels like an important thing to think about.
Thanks for your response and perspective. It’s much appreciated and very nice that you take the time to respond to your readers/listeners.
I can agree that social media isn’t the only factor in the declining mental health of our society, but I think it’s a big one. I certainly don’t know what the answer is, but I agree with you that it would help a lot to be around people more and be outside!
Thanks for the content that you continue to put out. It’s always interesting and relevant, even when I don’t agree.
On a side note, The Comfort Crisis is one of my favorite books. I’ve read it a few times myself and also gifted it to family and friends. Excellent read.
I think it’s great that you have differing opinions on here, since people need to hear both sides.
On the alcohol topic - I appreciate Dean’s opinion, especially the end where he’s not saying everyone should add it back in if they are otherwise happy. He’s obviously someone that lives in cities, likes to bar hop, do adventurous things, and the inhibition lowering affect of alcohol does him a lot of good. He also might have given up on being sober too soon and never learned how to be more open and lower inhibition without needing alcohol to do so. Kids don’t meed alcohol to be goofy and have fun. Adults don’t either, but it takes time and effort to do so. If you’re not willing to work on that while sober, alcohol might be best for those people.
In Wendy Bounds book or other anecdotes of people opening up and lowering inhibition while drinking - it’s nice alcohol gives them that feeling of finally letting loose a little bit but there’s also a sadness there - that so many can’t do so without the help of alcohol. That’s not exactly healthy either.
The other issue is Dean and others act like they’re only having 1-2 drinks which is likely not the case. It’s more like 2-3 and 4-6+ on his bar hopping nights. If that’s once a month that’s fine but people struggle having just 1-2 drinks.
Most people have at least 50-100+ days/events a year (birthdays, holidays, weddings, parties, work happy hours, vacations, etc) where they will have a drink which usually ends up being 2-3 drinks. Thats a lot of days and therefore lot of nights with poor food choices and poor sleep. That adds up.
I feel like in an ideal world, kids would be more emotionally vulnerable and outgoing, and go into adulthood with 3rd places that don’t need drinking to get the much needed socialization and fun.
With screen time going up, that seems unlikely… so maybe they and a lot of us do need to drink a little more.
It seems like Dean ultimately likes fun in his life and he thinks alcohol helps him with that.
What is Catherine Price’s opinion on FUN without alcohol? Interviewing her and focusing on the nuance of alcohol vs non alcohol fun, and third places with or without alcohol would be an interesting conversation!
Up until about a year ago I would have said I was a “moderate” drinker. Then I started counting my drinks. Nope: not moderate. Immoderate! And as I got older (I’m 61) I felt the costs of drinking more and more, especially the day after. So I’ve cut my consumption dramatically. Most days I don’t drink, though I still enjoy a beer with my buddies from time to time. I feel immeasurably better physically when I’m not drinking. And I experience no “social” cost as Dean reports … but I wonder if that’s because at my age, I just am who I am and it doesn’t take alcohol to open the door to fun Tom. I’m fun Tom all the time (my wife would love this one!). I’d suggest the answer is not to go back to drinking but to work on accessing your fun self whenever you want.
I hate to tell Dean, but as a physician with over 50 years of clinical experience and an interest in neuroscience, I can assure you that any amount of alcohol is neurotoxic--period! The best dose is indeed zero.
I think that's exactly what the episode said: If you look at alcohol from a singular health/medical lens, you'll probably find it's entirely bad. But if you zoom out, you can make larger considerations about your tradeoffs, your life, and how you want to live it. And that might allow you to make personal decisions that improve your overall health.
Yet I can't imagine a world where alcohol improves your overall health in any way. Along with ultra-processed food, it is also a prime driver of diet-induced brain dysfunction or CARB syndrome: https://carbsyndrome.com/
I gave up alcohol years ago, and my quality of life has never been better!