Wonder how we would have coped...........?

[Lencoboy]

I thought I would like to try to find an antidote to a lot of the unsettling stuff in the news over the past few weeks (eg Coronavirus), and have been harking back to past decades which had their own exceptional troubles and hardships. Though I am not in any way intending to trivialise present-day issues in any way, I have been wondering myself over the past few days how much present-day society (and I don't just mean young people) would have coped, back in say, the seventies, when we (reportedly) had crisis after crisis after crisis, but on the upside (IMO) were all accompanied by a complete absence of the Internet, let alone social media, during that period.

Although I was born towards the end of said decade (in 1977), I have read up on quite a few of the difficult issues that the UK in particular faced during that period. Such as (in no particular order);

A. The rapid growth of IRA terrorism within mainland Britain (that also continued through the eighties and well into the nineties).
B. The oil crisis of 1973-74, the power cuts and the resulting economic crisis.
C. Shortages of certain materials.
D. Mass industrial unrest and people downing tools willy-nilly, often over seemingly trivial issues.
E. Mounting racial tensions, the growth of the NF, etc, and various inner city riots, as the decade wore on.
F. Increasingly widespread football hooliganism.
G. The height of the Cold War and the ever-present threat of nuclear annihilation by the former Soviet Union.
H. The start of mass unemployment.
I. The 'Winter Of Discontent' in late 1978-early 1979 with mass strikes left, right and centre, especially bin-bags and the like cluttering up the streets of major cities, due to council workers having downed tools for weeks on end.
J. Far worse winter weather than what we seem to have today.
K. Brutal treatments from authority figures, eg, police officers, school headteachers and even childrens' own parents were more commonplace.

Although I admit I may not be absolutely correct in all the things from the I have listed above and of course some of the above still remain threats today, I am trying to point out that every era has its problems, though some more than others, of course. Also that many things probably seem worse today than ever before, due to the advent of not just the Internet and social media but also 24/7 TV and radio, plus of course rolling news channels with wall-to-wall coverage of specific events, which would have previously been limited to conventional printed newspapers and bulletins on TV and radio at set times throughout the day.

Unlike today of course, where the slightest thing from anywhere in the world is constantly beamed into our faces no matter where we are.

Take care.

[Lencoboy]

On second thoughts, due to me being a new FM and still trying to get to grips with this site, I now wonder whether the 'Tips for dealing with Anxiety and Panic' sticky thread may have been a more appropriate place to post this thread? Any thoughts?

[ankietyjoe]

To try and simplify this as much as I can, in terms of how I perceive now vs then.

1) My Father bought a 5 bedroom house in London for cash in the mid 70s. He was doing OK, but was by no means wealthy. These days you'd need to be a top 5% earner and pay it back for 25 years.

2) Food quality is lower and food quantity is higher. Much, in both cases, now.

3) Far less pressure on children to be exposed to work ethic and drama, then.

4) Complete saturation of horrendous news stories 24/7, now.

5) Terrible exercise ethics now, it's either doing nothing or pushing yourself into a coma.


We run ourselves into the ground to 'do well', and then absorb messages 24 hours a day telling us we are going to die soon.

[Lencoboy]

To try and simplify this as much as I can, in terms of how I perceive now vs then.

1) My Father bought a 5 bedroom house in London for cash in the mid 70s. He was doing OK, but was by no means wealthy. These days you'd need to be a top 5% earner and pay it back for 25 years.

2) Food quality is lower and food quantity is higher. Much, in both cases, now.

3) Far less pressure on children to be exposed to work ethic and drama, then.

4) Complete saturation of horrendous news stories 24/7, now.

5) Terrible exercise ethics now, it's either doing nothing or pushing yourself into a coma.


We run ourselves into the ground to 'do well', and then absorb messages 24 hours a day telling us we are going to die soon.

Joe,

I probably agree with you regarding 1, 3 and 4, especially 4 in which you are totally correct.

Not quite sure about 2 and 5 though.

But nevertheless, I fully respect your views and opinions.
Keep well.

[Fishmanpa]

Not to mention the virtual world the internet has created......

IMO, that alone (Especially Google), has fueled mental illness to epidemic proportions.

Positive thoughts

[pulisa]

I was under terrible pressure at school to be an achiever in the seventies and it was incredibly hard to get a university place. Exams were "on the day" and if you had a bad day, tough. No assessments throughout the course, no exam counselling, no mental health input-you just had to get on with it like everyone else did. I don't think it was a bad thing but can imagine how badly it would go down today.

[Lencoboy]

Not to mention the virtual world the internet has created......

IMO, that alone (Especially Google), has fueled mental illness to epidemic proportions.

Positive thoughts

I pretty much agree with you Fishmanpa, but there were no doubt quite a few mental illnesses that society was vastly unaware of at the time, especially as it was rarely discussed, and indeed, stigmatised a lot more back then, unlike now where MH issues are much more openly discussed and seemingly less taboo. I am sure many of you on here who are older than me (nearly 43) remember the old expression about 'being carted off to the funny farm' by men in white coats!!

BTW, I wouldn't be disappointed if social media was to suddenly be consigned to history tomorrow!!

[ankietyjoe]

Joe,

I probably agree with you regarding 1, 3 and 4, especially 4 in which you are totally correct.

Not quite sure about 2 and 5 though.

But nevertheless, I fully respect your views and opinions.
Keep well.

Why would you disagree on those points, out of interest?

[Lencoboy]

Why would you disagree on those points, out of interest?

Concerning your points 2 and 5.

I don't disagree per se, I just feel unable to make judgement due to lack of personal experience/evidence.

No offence intended.

[ankietyjoe]

Concerning your points 2 and 5.

I don't disagree per se, I just feel unable to make judgement due to lack of personal experience/evidence.

No offence intended.

No offence taken, just chewing the fat!

To clarify, the supermarkets have far more processed, low quality food on the shelves and the fresh fruit and veg that is available is often heavily sprayed and flown in from half way around the world. The nutritional value of fresh food drops off considerably after it's picked, so having abundant availability is a double edged sword. Food is also cheaper relative to the 70s/80s and the ability to buy 1.5kg of (shitty) lasagne for a fiver means that lots of people are eating very poorly.

As for the exercise, more people are sedentary these days both at home and at work (there is data about this everywhere). We work much longer hours (data everywhere) and then try and make up for being sedentary by exercising REALLY hard at 9pm, putting an already stressed body through more stress....then go home and eat a low quality ready meal and a bottle of wine. Peoples lives just used to involve more walking about and doing 'stuff', because they didn't have an iPad to collapse in front of after a hard day sitting down.

We are creating the perfect recipe for a worn down body/mind. In my opinion, based on my own observations.....that don't apply to absolutely everybody.