Welcome
It’s feeling like “Mad Men”
This week’s mix: booze, marketing hacks, and cutthroat corporate culture — all shaken with economic whiplash and a dash of online rage 😤. The topics aren’t always light, but I hope Nexa offers you some support in between all you do to support others.
Know someone who might this? Please share 👉
With care,
Enid
[email protected]
This week 🗓️
💧 The Dry(er) Generation: Americans Are Drinking Less, But Seeking a Buzz Elsewhere
🧩 What’s happening:
New Gallup data shows that only 54% of U.S. adults say they drink alcohol—down from 70% in the early 2000s—the lowest level in decades. Rising health awareness, the sober-curious movement, and social-media normalization of “Dry January-style” moderation are driving the shift. But not all buzzes are fading: cannabis-infused beverages and products are surging. For example, the “vodka of cannabis” drinks promising a lift without the hangover.
💬 Why it matters for therapists:
Changing norms around substances can impact how clients feel about control, coping, and belonging — especially heading into the holiday party season.
🪞 How it may show up in the room:
Substance-free clients seeking new ways to relax or connect.
Rediscovering connection without intoxication — and how vulnerable that can feel.
Role reversals in relationships when one partner stops drinking and the other doesn’t.
🛋️ What therapists can do:
Explore meaning: “What does choosing not to drink represent for you?”
Offer psychoeducation to help clients distinguish healthy coping strategies from avoidance or addiction in another form.
Normalize changing relationships with substances as identity evolves.
🔗 Go deeper:
💡 The bottom line:
Sobriety is becoming status-neutral — even aspirational — yet new psychoactive trends fill the social void. Therapists can help clients find calm and safety, without chemical crutches.
🔥 Outrage for Sale: How ‘Ragebait’ Became a Marketing Strategy
🧩 What’s happening:
“Ragebait” — posts designed to provoke anger, drive clicks, and boost algorithmic reach — has gone mainstream in brand marketing. Marketing Brew reports that companies are using polarizing takes (“Your coffee order says everything wrong with America”) to fuel engagement and online discourse.
💬 Why it matters for therapists:
Anger is contagious online. Clients absorbing rage-driven media may carry residual irritation, cynicism, or helplessness into daily life — even without realizing it.
🪞 How it may show up in the room:
Heightened irritability or doomscrolling fatigue.
Polarized thinking (“Everyone online is stupid”).
Moral exhaustion or compassion burnout.
🛋️ What therapists can do:
Encourage digital hygiene: “Pause before reacting — what emotion is being monetized here?”
Introduce mindful media boundaries (muting, scheduled breaks).
Frame outrage as a signal, not an identity.
🔗 Go deeper:
💡 The bottom line:
Outrage sells — but at a psychological cost. Therapists can help clients notice when their emotions are being engineered.
💰 Breathing Room or False Calm? Falling Oil Prices and Financial Relief
🧩 What’s happening:
Global oil prices have plunged, with U.S. crude near $57 a barrel, easing inflation and lowering borrowing costs. Business Insider notes this drop has pulled 10-year Treasury yields lower, meaning cheaper credit for U.S. households and businesses.
💬 Why it matters for therapists:
Clients feeling temporary relief — “Finally, my loan rate dropped!” — may still brace for the next downturn. Financial volatility often maps onto relational anxiety and control themes.
🪞 How it may show up in the room:
“I can breathe now… but for how long?”
Relief mixed with distrust of good fortune.
Hypervigilance around money despite improved conditions.
🛋️ What therapists can do:
Help clients reframe relief as a growth window — not just a pause in crisis.
Encourage balanced awareness: both gratitude and preparedness.
Build financial self-efficacy skills (budgeting, savings planning) within therapy goals.
🔗 Go deeper:
💡 The bottom line:
Economic reprieve can soothe anxiety — but uncertainty lingers. Therapists can anchor clients in agency, not forecasts.
💼 The Job Market Tightens: Stability Anxiety Returns
🧩 What’s happening:
A wave of layoffs continues across major employers — including Exxon, Nike, Oracle, and Scale AI — while hiring remains sluggish in several sectors. Yet USA Today reports select fields (health care, renewable energy, and education) are quietly expanding.
💬 Why it matters for therapists:
Job insecurity directly affects mental health — evoking shame, grief, and identity rupture. Even clients still employed may carry survivor’s guilt or anticipatory fear.
🪞 How it may show up in the room:
“Everyone at work’s nervous — no one says it out loud.”
Clients questioning purpose or self-worth tied to productivity.
Freeze response: stuck between burnout and fear of losing income.
🛋️ What therapists can do:
Help clients name and externalize economic anxiety.
Normalize grief for lost stability.
Rebuild identity beyond job title and productivity metrics.
🔗 Go deeper:
💡 The bottom line:
The market’s mixed signals can erode a sense of safety. Therapy offers space to rebuild internal stability amid external flux.
Food for Thought
The 150-Friend Myth
Remember agonizing over your Top 8? Turns out there might have been science behind that—sort of 🧠 . Some researchers say the human brain tops out around 150 stable relationships, with only about five in our innermost circle and most of our energy spent on just 15 people.
But newer studies suggest it’s less about brain limits and more about time, attention, and context. So maybe it’s not your neurons draining your social battery — it’s your calendar.
Zombies incoming 🧟
Next week’s special issue is all about “brain rot,” and unfortunately it’s not just a Halloween theme.
