Some other guesses/hypotheses of things that may contribute to positive mental health:
“For people who feel pulled by all the important problems out there”, EA’s focus on tractability, cost-effectiveness, and actually doing things that make a difference, may mean that for some people it’s a much more hopeful, optimistic, solutions-oriented take than what they’re used to. I remember speaking to a Leaf alum (i.e. a teenager) who found Leaf inspiring/motivating in contrast to the climate change doom and gloom that they were usually surrounded by.
There are a bunch of mental health and wellbeing services out there specifically for EAs. Maybe this is just another opportunity to engage with that sort of support that someone might otherwise have skipped or never had access to. (Although my sense is that these services have developed/spread/grown since the 2022 survey.)
More generally, plausible mental health / wellbeing discussion and consideration may be more part of the environment, culture, and social norms than they have had in other contexts. A different topic, but I had a similar thing for productivity when I first became more involved with EA—I was around 21 and had graduated from a top university, but still I’d never really encountered people discussing ways to become more productive and efficient generally. I can imagine a similar thing happening for mental health. (I can also imagine people encounter ‘wellness’ programs in e.g. corporate environments where they are based on vibes rather than evidence, or otherwise clearly seem to be shallow, hollow, or ineffective, and then the more evidence-based approach within EA makes it resonate more. I think something a little bit like this did happen to me.)
This is hinted at with “wanting to be impactful”, but all the standard stuff in the 80k career guide about fulfilling careers etc.
(Here I’m just assuming the premise is true. I do feel a bit sceptical due to the survey response bias thing. But I don’t have counterevidence beyond anecdotes and intuition.)
Good news if true! Thanks for sharing.
Some other guesses/hypotheses of things that may contribute to positive mental health:
“For people who feel pulled by all the important problems out there”, EA’s focus on tractability, cost-effectiveness, and actually doing things that make a difference, may mean that for some people it’s a much more hopeful, optimistic, solutions-oriented take than what they’re used to. I remember speaking to a Leaf alum (i.e. a teenager) who found Leaf inspiring/motivating in contrast to the climate change doom and gloom that they were usually surrounded by.
There are a bunch of mental health and wellbeing services out there specifically for EAs. Maybe this is just another opportunity to engage with that sort of support that someone might otherwise have skipped or never had access to. (Although my sense is that these services have developed/spread/grown since the 2022 survey.)
More generally, plausible mental health / wellbeing discussion and consideration may be more part of the environment, culture, and social norms than they have had in other contexts. A different topic, but I had a similar thing for productivity when I first became more involved with EA—I was around 21 and had graduated from a top university, but still I’d never really encountered people discussing ways to become more productive and efficient generally. I can imagine a similar thing happening for mental health. (I can also imagine people encounter ‘wellness’ programs in e.g. corporate environments where they are based on vibes rather than evidence, or otherwise clearly seem to be shallow, hollow, or ineffective, and then the more evidence-based approach within EA makes it resonate more. I think something a little bit like this did happen to me.)
This is hinted at with “wanting to be impactful”, but all the standard stuff in the 80k career guide about fulfilling careers etc.
(Here I’m just assuming the premise is true. I do feel a bit sceptical due to the survey response bias thing. But I don’t have counterevidence beyond anecdotes and intuition.)