What if that mindset is merely a result of a different type of psychosis that does not let you perceive reality correctly as well?
I believe things are "bad" in terms of the human condition, and this general feeling has manifested into apocalyptic mindsets and religious prophecies. Look, we have about 1 in 8 people living the "good life" (maybe vast overestimate due to poverty in first world nations) and 1 in 8 people starving to death at the apex of agrarian civilization. Everyone in the middle suffers some degree of suffering and subjugation to fuel the elites' standard of living. We have epidemics, violence, disparity, chaos, famines, exploitation, etc. All these things impart psychological effects on the inhabitants of this earth that create all types of cognitive dissonance and psychosis. Is it any wonder that many people think we have been living in the "end times" for thousands of years? Because, if you aren't living it up like a middle-class American (or Roman), life can tend to suck. Frankly, if you think things aren't so bad (for everyone, not just you), it is more likely that you have some problem with perceiving reality.
But obviously, the apocalyptic mindset hasn't been accurate. Human suffering is no evidence of the "end" (but faith-based people don't need evidence to believe in and "end" and that it is coming). Until the 1940's, there really hasn't been anything that could rationally wipe everyone out (other than a celestial object). So it was all faith based bullshit from scared people trying to make sense of human suffering (that is very, very real).
Unfortunately, since the 1940's that has changed due to nuclear weapons, which we managed not to release. But in all our hurried exuberance, we unleashed an equally deadly threat from our over-consumption: climate change. Check out the recent national climate assessment, and tell me things "aren't that bad". Things are devastating. Terrifying. Catastrophic. Apocalyptic? Depends on where you live (so far).
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