The question you raise is pertinent to far more than simply the age group you mention. While it is perhaps less obvious in younger members of the human clan, there is some effect present even to the age range of the adolescent. There are, of course, the obvious considerations pressing on the collective psyche - such as the fact that the world has grown so complex it is hard to remember everything that operates upon the psyche; that in such chaotic times, people often do not really want to know the things that go on in the world; collective levels of overwhelmed psyches; etc., etc., etc. However, as you are suggesting there is more to the story.

The fact that you are living in complicated times is borne out not only on the mind, but on the physical apparatus as well. Of course, the body needs to function well to support a well-functioning mind. Often it seems to me that, particularly in the West, body and mind are treated as opposing forces that dwell in the same container. While on the one hand the discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries have produced much that is exciting and wonderful - stimulating immense curiosity, demonstrating levels of mastery that were unimaginable as recently as the 18th century - there is another side of the coin, as well. It is amazing from this side to observe how so often the obvious seems to be missed in the pursuit of the next new fact.

While the mind is stimulated and intrigued with all the distance it can be stretched, encountering brave new world after brave new world, the body is really not much different than it was when you were all running around in crude garments, living in caves, hunting and gathering. If I were to choose one element that I see as offering the strongest input here it would be humanity's loss of contact with the physical world and its cycles. Your physical bodies are run on internal "clocks" that are set to the rising and setting of the sun. Your brain chemistry and your hormonal balance (or lack thereof) are dependent on a balance between cycles of rest and activity which, hormonally speaking, take their cues from the sun. With the discovery of electricity, and the subsequent invention of the electric light bulb, everything changed. In other words, humans were no longer "confined" to the cycles of the sun to measure their activity and rest cycles. Today, if one so desires, one can have light for the full 24-hour cycle. While such might be considered an asset along productivity lines, or around the lines of leisure, the poor body is paying an exceptionally high price for the "conveniences."

Add to the changes in lifestyle mentioned above the fact that many people are carrying tremendous stress in their lives from relational issues, job issues, financial issues, identity issues, etc., etc., and you have a formula for a compromised condition in body-mind functioning. A big piece here is the fact that most people do not give themselves adequate rest cycles, or they take their rest cycles at times when the body chemistry is in an activity mode. From a biological perspective, one needs to go to sleep so the brain can make melatonin. While most people are aware of this fact, many think it doesn't matter when one sleeps. "So as long as I get some sleep, I can stay up all night and sleep in tomorrow morning." However, the body's biological clock does not run on such willy-nilly rules of engagement. The brain is wired to start producing low levels of melatonin as the sun goes down, but if it is tricked my electric lights to never know when the sun goes down, this process is delayed or omitted (often for years), and the body is deprived of the hormone that affords quality rest. Clearly, in times of stress, the body needs quality rest.

When you were living in caves, you started to get sleepy as the sun went down, the body's rest hormones kicked in, and you went to sleep, usually awakening with the sun's first rays since such triggered your biochemistry, and the cycle for activity was in place. In those days (as well as in more recent times but before the rule of electricity), you awoke rested with energy and enthusiasm for the new day, had healthier immune systems, were more "in the moment" with all your experiences and relationships, and you even had a greater sense of purpose. Now clearly, the "purpose" you felt in earlier times was less complicated, and often it may have involved only raising the next generation. However, you did not take that less seriously than you take your more convoluted prescriptions for creating a successful life today.

The truth is, without quality rest, no body can repair itself from the wear and tear of the "normal" stress level you carry. But the picture is even more complicated. The exaggerated stress levels people carry today (because of the notions of productivity and responsibility) stimulate the body to produce a hormone that is rapidly becoming known as the "stress hormone," cortisol. The higher the levels of cortisol (which could be mitigated by quality rest and the production of melatonin) the less the organs (including the brain) are able to function effectively. Sustained over time, deterioration will occur at one or more organic levels. The first point of deterioration, particularly for the age group you referenced, is often experienced with the faulty memory examples you were citing in your question. However, evidence exists of this condition in young people, as well. For example, most young men in their 20's in developed countries have considerably lowered sperm count than was normal in generations past. Young women are experiencing menses younger and younger, which is a demonstration of a type of premature aging. Men are also experiencing the loss of hair at progressively younger and younger ages.

As if the above elements were not enough, the Western culture has become more and more dependent on a carbohydrate diet. As you may know, when one digests carbohydrates (particularly simple carbohydrates), insulin is produced. The insulin in the bloodstream stimulates the production of cortisol, which demonstrates that the body is in some kind of stress.

Thus, you might consider whether you (and everyone else) would function better without electricity! From a purely physiological standpoint, there may be merit in that consideration. However, this is not to say that there are no merits to having electricity. In truth, if cultures would return to the natural cycles of the day and night, allowing their bodies to be in synch with the natural rhythms of the planet, balance would be restored to the human body.

Clearly, it is neither practical nor particularly desirable to return to the cave days in all aspects of life. However, what was forgotten (or ignored) in the quest for mastery over the physical elements was the importance of natural cycles on the physical body. It was assumed that the artificial conditions were better than the original natural cycles, in large part because the artificial conditions were more comfortable. However, when dwelling in a physical body upon a physical plane, one must not remove him/herself from the physical roots. With raised cortisol levels, diminished melatonin levels, excessive stress levels and no quality rest cycles, the human psyche is mutated into something that can be seen as a lesser state of being. Under these conditions, aggressive behavior arises, and it becomes less and less possible for one to see oneself as a part of a greater whole. Indeed, the self takes on lower qualities rather than higher qualities, and rather than producing a culture of enlightened beings, what is produced is disenfranchisement at all levels, isolationist thinking and behaving, higher crime rates, warmongering, and a decline in basic abilities to function as a human being.

Perhaps a reconnection with the natural world is in order here - perhaps a profound reconnection! It is good to have and appreciate the conveniences of the modern world, but if a culture uses these conveniences to deny the physicality of the body-mind state, you can be assured that consequences will arise which cause humans to confront the true nature of humanity. You are in the place of so considering, or this question could not have arisen. Go forth now, as a wise human, and share the gift of your newly found knowledge with everyone who will listen.