Is flipping out in public a new American norm?

A JetBlue pilot and the producer of the viral video Kony 2012 both recently had very public meltdowns. If you're not careful, says Davia Temin in Forbes, you could be next

Kony 2012 producer, Jason Russell
(Image credit: YouTube)

"We are living in stressful times," and it appears to be taking its toll on us in unexpected ways, says Davia Temin at Forbes. In the space of two weeks, a JetBlue pilot, Clayton Osbon, and Jason Russell, the producer of the smash viral video Kony 2012, "wigged out." On Tuesday, Osbon, reportedly ran up his plane's aisles screaming about Iran and bombs, and tried to open the outside door mid-flight. (He's still being evaluated at a hospital.) On March 16, an incoherent Russell, apparently overwhelmed by the response to the wildly popular video, ran nearly naked through the streets of San Diego. The two incidents seem like understandable reactions to our frenzied, overly connected, socially mediated world. And any of us could be next, unless we "take some time to disengage." Here, an excerpt:

These do not seem like "I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore" moments. Instead they seem like "it is just all too much for me and my fragile body and psyche to bear anymore" moments. The weight of the world comes down heavier in the rush of total connectivity.

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