Do Not Become Part of ‘Generation Anxiety’

If you wish to promote positivity and compassion in your life, practice behaviours that promote these, and stay away from the toxic behaviours and environments that poison and suffocate them.

I am a big fan of the internet and how it has transformed society. I made a point recently that for every problem the internet creates it offers a hundred solutions. The tech industry is a cauldron of creative thinkers and endless opportunity. It has certainly had negative impacts on some industries, especially creative, but I hope in time, some online business formats will be created that will see all parties satisfied.

However, I am not here to speak about business or creativity. I would like to look at some of the moral issues surrounding the internet, and how this can impact a person’s mental health.

Recently, I was sent an email, highlighting a young man’s personal struggles with mental health issues. It was not for the public, and was in a way, just an outlet for him to talk, in a society that still in general, stigmatises depression. He made a particular point about his use of online forums and boards, and how much anxiety they tend to give him, yet he still cannot help himself going on them. I have never really been into posting on forums and having conversations with anonymous users about often, delicate and sensitive subjects, so to be fair, I was relatively ignorant to what goes on in them.

I decided to do a bit of research and look some up, and to be honest, quite a bit of the content was informative and very helpful on certain subject matters. I started clicking on links with more in depth, and perhaps more controversial matters, and what I began reading really was quite disturbing. The level of abuse and aggression that was anonymously thrown out was vile and disgusting.

This was not debate, and it is important to point out the difference between debate and abuse. Healthy debate must be promoted, but when it becomes so deeply personal it can be quite distressing. Ironically, some of these posts are so personal, yet they are completely anonymous, highlighting the sea of anxiety inducing negatively and ignorance that some of these forum posts swim in. It’s not healthy and it is not somewhere people who struggle with low moods and anxiety issues should spend their time. I would strongly advise those who deal with mental health issues to stay away from such posts and stick to the more educational and interesting forum topics.

Call these people want you want, keyboard warriors, trolls etc…But the reality is, they are clearly very unhappy themselves. If people feel they must denounce and illustrate cynicism in every last piece of content they read, do not get sucked in. It is important to ask yourself, “What will I get out of replying to this negativity, will it make me feel better about myself?”

I don’t know about you, but I have never judged or verbally/digitally abused someone, and felt good about myself. In fact, quite the opposite. It gives me a nauseous feeling in the depths of my stomach when I let myself get involved. And I know there will be some forums that will probably take this post, and some users will abuse it, and tear it apart. Let them. Do not get involved with the circus of nastiness. IT WILL NOT MAKE YOU FEEL BETTER.

The foundations of Positive psychology is based round non judgement of others (especially when you know nothing about them or their situation), self-compassion, mindfulness and positivity. Surely practising these patterns of behaviour could serve you better than getting involved in an anonymous negativity war against someone whose sole goal is to antagonise and bully. I am okay with being abused online. I am in the public eye, it come’s part and parcel with what I do, but many of you guys do not need to deal with that stuff.

So, in 2015, if you wish to promote positivity and compassion in your life, practice behaviours that promote these, and stay away from the toxic behaviours and environments that poison and suffocate them. Do not become part of what is slowly being referred to as “Generation Anxiety”.