I think there are many contributing factors. One these contributing factors in my opinion is the way news and information is easily disseminated. In the past it took days for information to reach people  and in some cases not at all. So people were not aware of many things as they are today so there were less things you felt you had to protect yourself and your children from. Now  in the age of information all the horrors of society are at your fingertips 24/7 and are relayed right down to the cell phone you carry. We hear about more threats to our person and children, about more products that corporations try to sell you because you need them, images of war, violent crime, natural disasters and political corupption. It comes at us from all directions and the only way to escape it is to turn it off. All this has to have an effect on the human psyche.

I agree there was a time when shelter and food were our only concerns and we spent a lot of time and energy into securing it which left little time for anything else. Unfortunately this still happens to many folks even today. There are still many who work more than one job in order to pay the bills and have little time for other things but our perceived list of necessities have changed.

I know that there is a high rate of suicide in Japan. The last information I read is that the government there is trying to come up with programs to relieve the crisis. Poor BH I fear his thread has been totally hijacked...LOL!!

Micheál

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