Could SA be just a result from IT era beginning?

[Love_Etc]

I was thinking about this SA condition and I think this is almost certainly a result from internet and PCs and all this information technology.

You see, 100 years ago there was no one with SA - there were just shy people who became less shy over the years because "job", daily activities and other people forced them to.
In the time we are currently living we got ourselves caught between these two extremes and some people suffer because of that a lot (like myself).
In 2050 I am certain all people will be unsocialized but because most people will be like that it will be thought of as being normal.

I also think that we are living in conditions which are too good and this really can't be good in long term. We have food, shelter other commercialized things.. And now that we have everything we tend to think about things that doesn't matter (Do I look stupid when walking down the street? What will other say when I go past them and say just "hi"?...).
People in Sudan or Bangladesh doesn't worry about this things as they have other things to worry about.

The thing I've been waiting to say from the beginning of this thread:
We are all being commercialized. My neighbour is worth more than me because he knows how to act in public. I am worth more than you because I look better. No, we are all the same.

And in the end - it's up to your own being to do with your life what ever you want - it's your right. Because in the end everything that ever mattered in this universe is you and only you!

 

[lurknomore]

I think that the occurrence of SA may have increased due to technology, but I don't agree that it wasn't in existence 100 years ago, or even further back. There have always been hermits and recluses, people that didn't feel like they fit into society. Arguably, some of the greatest artists/writers/etc. may have had SA and/or some form of depression- many were not famous or went undiscovered until after they died.

 

[Love_Etc]

Well, now that I think of I agree with you lurknomore. I remembered a novel written by Franz Kafka titled The Metamorphosis which deals with some kind of SA. We read it in high school and I was fascinated how a novel can hurt you.

Further discussion appreciated.

 

[PhillyFlyersGrl]

Trust me, people were like this 100yrs ago..all mental illness have exsisted for centuries. I think over certain periods of time..certain eras..behaviors were either romantisized even considered normal..(remember at one time it was normal to beat the snot out of your kids ), or people threw stones at you and called you names..the village idiot..or weirdo. We now can know exactly how many people have what..because news travels so much faster. Years ago nobody had any clue what was going on in the next town over..or they wouldnt hear about till years later. People were very ignorant of eachother and what people where going through unless you lived in the same town. I think because we know so much about eachother now we are shocked to learn how many people have mental illnesses.

 

[Hellhound]

I'm pretty sure SA always existed, as well as other mental illnesses. It's just it's more known now a days.

 

[Noca]

There was always SA, we just didnt always have a method to diagnose nor a society to care.

 

[cosmosis]

I think the thing that has changed recently to make SA worse, is that we simply do NOT need other people like we used to. This is partly due to the city structure and technology. In the past, we needed companionship for survival. It wasn't just a thing to do on friday nights. That very strong need and desire to be close to others probably did serve as a good counter to social fear and anxiety.

 

[Predacon]

Yeah I think its always existed. I know I had some sort of anxiety long before I ever read about SA on the internet or saw it mentioned in a book.

 

[Anubis]

I think you're taking it too far by saying "no social phobia existed 100 years ago" but I do find your general theme that social phobia may have more prevalence in industrialist/technologist societies to be worth discussing.

It's not a bad theory since there are many statistically proven diseases/illnesses that seem to be more common in certain societies (AIDs is an example). So it's not completely inconceivable that something like social phobia could have some population determinants.

 

[Honda]

i agree with the fact that living as a spoiled kid makes you weaker and wussy and immature...
People went through worse **** in other places in the world and painful stories and still manage to stand tall and strong.. While im stuck in some silly social phobia that makes me unable to do things that are soo simple for other people... Such people make me feel ashamed from the fact that im emphasizing such a mental state and letting it control me..

 

[dooby-duck]

I think that all the technology we have these days makes it possible to live without socialising. We can shop online, bank online, make a living online etc. Where in the past you would starve to death if you didn't leave the house now it is made easy.

 

[2ate]

Great thread with great insights...yes I agree that society made it easy if not encouraged people to be less social and less likely to develop social skills. And the sad news, it will keep going in that direction. I appreciate technology but sometimes I think it hurts more than help in the long run.

 

[kayelle]

I think that technology has simply brought on a different form of social anxiety, and anxiety in general. In my opinion, anxiety has always existed. It's just that with each new generation comes different forms of the anxiety, or different things to be worried about. Like now, I freak out if I don't have my mobile phone on me at all times to call a family member or a friend...just in case I would suddenly need to But obviously I wouldn't have had that fear 20 years ago. But you can be sure the same old irrational anxieties would have latched on to something else.

The anxiety is the irrational fear within ourselves, and less to do with the exterior. What I mean is, changing the exterior or the environment won't eliminate the anxiety.

 

[Honda]

Bump, the fact is we dont invest what we have properly.. We have all our needs fulfilled so we can move ahead and dedicate our time to advance in many other things in life.. People have nothing to struggle for and life has become too easy that a small threat might feel like a disaster for some.. We should think beyond that cuz; we even have the resources to take our minds to a whole new dimension and thinking..

 

[Felgen]

King Ludwig II was a living proof social anxiety existed long before the internet.

 

[Jake123]

It was probably earlier to live as a hermit back then with the wilderness where you could live in the woods and hunt or whatever, and a less intrusive government... I mean haven't you heard those stories of the crazy witches or hermits from eons ago that lived all alone in the forest lol. Now it's like impossible, you have to at least interact somehow for paying things and government crap plus nonexistant wilderness

 

[AutonomousAutomaton]

I had social phobia before I ever had a computer. I think people turn to computers more when they are lonely, and that the loneliness is caused by social phobia, not the other way around.

 

[Richey]

well i think that no matter what era you lived in there are always going to people who are avoidant and had questionable upbringings and mental problems..i think technology is definitely something that makes SA etc more common though.

 

[IamThisOne]

In 2050 I am certain all people will be unsocialized but because most people will be like that it will be thought of as being normal.

I've thought about that too. I tend to think that the future will be like that movie Mindwarp where everyone is hooked up to computers and live in a computer simulation that is to their liking. While outside is a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

 

[Lea]

That's certainly an interesting thought, but I don't agree with it so completely. Nothing is black and white, and you can't even know how the people 100 or more years ago were and what problems they had. But OK, let's assume they were better off in the sense they were less isolated and integrated in the society, because everyone in the society depended on everyone else - they needed to hang and work closely together to survive. Today, a lot of workforce has been replaced by machines, the people and their work is not needed (especially of the weaker or handicaped ones), so the handicapped get more isolated and desperate and the strong and outgoing get stronger and more aggresive. Well even if it wasn't so clear cut, the society now is somehow broken because of technology. As someone from this forum once told me, “you can have either life or technology, you can't have both” . The technology breaks human connections, as we don't necessarily need others to survive. And others don't need us.

100 or more years ago the people were probably mentally healthier because they became more love from their families, friends, neighbors.. they all helped each other and needed each other mutually. So everyone felt important and needed, and in turn he felt that he can rely on others. Besides, they lived close to nature, in a natural way, had natural food and clean air and water. They were not stuffed with pills and they didn't get vaccinated!!

Today, they begin to vaccinate babies as young as 4 days old. As I reviewed my vaccination history, I counted 23 vaccinations but think there were even more. The preservatives in the vaccines are loaded with mercury which causes autism and related conditions. Amalgame tooth fillings too.. Plus medications.. Plus today we have unnatural food - refined sugar, flour, fats, hormone laden meat (the poor animals get fed junk and are injected with hormones for speeding their growth), colorants, preservatives, alcohol, heavily processed food heavily laden with chemicals etc. So I guess a lot of mental conditions today are down to burdening the organism with chemicals.

The society today is unnatural, many people have nothing to live for so they concentrate on how they look, how they appear to others and similar unimportant things. There is certain paranoia in most of people I think. Equally, most people put on masks and try to not reveal their true self, as a protection. Although this all seems stupid, it can't even be another way because this world is crazy. Today, you won't be appreciated just for being who you are... The society doesn't give damn about you.. so what are we to do?What does the society want? They are crazy just like us, and don't know properly what they want. Probably some hero from Hollywood , unreal things. Besides there are so many people in this world, and so little work and use for them, they are disposable. If you're not the best, you don't have a chance, there are others. You're nothing, you can die tomorrow and noone will notice, noone will give damn. Suicide yourself? Who cares. One little article in the newspaper and tomorrow nobody remembers. There are millions of people ending up in a cruel way daily. Nothing special.

How do we become important, make the society notice and value us, if not love us? It is not for hard work, there are machines for it. There are millions of people working very hard in this world for nothing, but they are not heroes, they are disposable zeros, underpaid nameless slaves, human machines. They barely feed their family and die.
Housewifes raising children don't get much appreciation either, if they don't have a career alongside it. But if they concentrate on their career, the children will suffer and if they don't have enough care and love, they will end up as mentally disturbed individuals and the vicious circle goes on. Today society is putting pressure on women to be like men, but most women are not made to be like that. Men are better suited for most things like mathematic, computers, technology etc. etc., honestly anywhere I get I see more presence of men, men achieve more, are more clever than women. I feel like I don't have a chance against them and that it is not even worth trying to for example learn photography or anything else, because there will always be way better people on it (especially men). Sure there are many smart women too, but well at least it's not me. Sadly I don't have typically feminine interests either, like household, life around children and fashion, soap operas etc . But this is a bit off topic.
What I wanted to say, women are women and should be appreciated as that (they have in turn more developed the emotional side, feelings), not try to make of them something they are not because that's unnatural. But today, everything is unnatural.

So if you want to stand out in todays society, you have to be the coolest brat, have the coolest clothing, tatoos (nothing against it per se), drink a lot, steal, cheat and bully others. If you're at least a bit academicaly smart or into books, hide it because they would laugh you out. The bigger idiot or criminal, the better. The society which looks up to criminals, isn't the world upside down? But what else is here to do, what else to live for, if nothing else is appreciated?