Young people are going out less and less, the culprits are known

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This is an alarming observation that has been noted in numerous studies across the Western world: the decline in face-to-face social relationships is increasing among young people. Thus, the proportion of people aged 18 to 24 who meet friends, family or colleagues has fallen sharply in Europe and the United States in recent years.

Anxiety and unhappiness

On the Old Continent, the proportion of those who do not socialise even once a week has increased from one in ten to one in four in the space of ten years, notes the Financial Times in an analysis that is both fascinating and worrying.

Our colleague points out in this regard that the public health community tends to welcome these developments which lead to a reduction in alcohol consumption among the most young.

But there are darker implications. Time spent alone is associated with lower life satisfaction and higher mortality. Scientists at the University of Cambridge also found that periods of isolation, including those during which participants were allowed to use their phones, led to heightened threat responses—the perception and response to potential dangers. This vigilance can make people feel uneasy.

The researchers concluded: “Our experience suggests that periods of isolation among adolescents may increase their vulnerability to developing anxiety, even when they are connected virtually.”

How can we explain these developments??

To explain these developments, the British daily newspaper mentions the proliferation of smartphones and the rise of social networks. Thus, the hours spent scrolling through social networks and watching videos have increased significantly among the youngest.

And our colleague concludes with a very sad observation: “The fact that these assessments are attributed by adolescents and young adults who spend hours glued to their devices underlines the tragedy at the heart of this story: the people who are suffering are, at some level, aware of what is wrong, but seem powerless to prevent it.”

He adds: “Like the frog in the pot, the damage at any given time is too subtle to eliminate, but in a few years, we could start to reach a simmering point.”

To learn more about this topic, feel free to read this article from The Atlantic which provides a pertinent analysis of this issue.

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