Are We Generation Mental Illness?
A Look Inside Society’s Deteriorating Mental Health
The Silent Generation, baby boomers, Generation X and millennials. I’m sure you’ve heard many, if not all these terms before. Whether it’s stories about millennials ruining handshakes for everyone or baby boomers ruining the entire world for everyone, the media certainly likes to play up the generational divides and differences.
Most generations have certain things that define them as a cohort. Baby boomers are defined by affluence, wealth, consumerism and social change. Generation X is defined by MTV, grunge and hip hop music and entrepreneurship.
But with so many articles popping up in both mainstream and independent media sources citing an increase of mental health issues, addictions and suicides in recent decades, could poor mental health be something that defines millennials and Generation Z?
The Facts
In February of 2019 Praveetha Patalay and Suzanne Gage, researchers from the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom, published a 10-year longitudinal study examining mental health trends among youth in the United Kingdom. Their intensive study compiling data from tens of thousands of participants found that from 2005 to 2015 depressive symptoms rose from a prevalence of 9 percent in 2005 to 14.8 percent in 2015 while self-harm rose in prevalence from 11.8 percent to 14.4 percent.
Patalay and Gage also found that parents reported their children as having much higher rates of emotional difficulties, conduct problems, hyperactivity and peer problems in 2015 compared to 2005. They did, however, find that rates of substance use, sexual activity and anti-social behaviors have decreased in the UK’s youth over time.
Meanwhile, across the pond in the United States, a 12-year study based on data from over 600,000 Americans found that “between 2005 and 2017, the rate of 12 to 17 year-olds who experienced a major depressive episode in the past year rose by 52 percent.” Researchers additionally found that for young people ages 18 to 25, depression rose by 63 percent. Furthermore, the number of young people “affected by serious psychological distress in the past 30 days rose by 71 percent.” When it came to suicidal thoughts, plans, or attempts, the data showed an increase of nearly 50 percent from 2008 to 2017 in 18 to 19 year olds.
And while in some countries mental health issues are on the rise among all generational groups, it seems that millennials’ and Generation Z’s increasingly poor mental health is unrivaled and unprecedented.
The Underlying Issues
While the data clearly demonstrates that younger generations are worse off when it comes to mental health, the question we really should be asking is “how did we get here?” To the untrained eye, it could seem absurd that a generation with so many opportunities and so much ahead of them is faring worse than generations who fought and died in large-scale wars in a world dominated by fear and teetering on the edge of nuclear destruction.
Researchers’ opinions on why this generational discrepancy exists vary widely.
While some researchers inevitably blame the advent of smartphones, social media and the ensuing lack of sleep for modern society’s mental woes, others say that the real issues lie in uncertainty.
In fact, researchers found that millennials spend more time studying, face more competition in their quest for a career, and face more difficulty achieving job satisfaction than any previous generation. Couple this with a tendency to marry later in life than previous generations and you have a generation of people concerned about their future. For far too many young people, their future academic paths, their future careers and their future relationships seem uncertain and beyond their grasp.
Additionally, economic factors may play a major role. Many millennials grew up or came of age during the Great Recession and are generally more pessimistic about the economy than their predecessors. Furthermore, the reality is that it’s simply more expensive to live now than in the past, even when adjusting for inflation. The inflation-adjusted costs of many essentials, especially housing, have risen more than 100% since 1960 and will surely continue to rise as time progresses. Optimism about the future is low, and with many realizing they may never be home owners like their parents and grandparents before them, it’s easy to see why.
But there’s another side to things.
The Other Side
As you may be aware, millennials are certainly more conscious of mental health issues and are much more likely to treat mental health seriously. They tend to talk more about their mental health struggles and tend to be more open than previous generations when it comes to this subject.
Furthermore, 70 percent of mental health problems are detected or diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood.
Some researchers and clinicians optimistically feel that much of this higher risk of mental illness in young people is simply a combination of the fact that the onset of most mental illnesses tends to be earlier in life and that the younger generations are becoming more and more cognizant of mental illness and mental health.
Another factor to consider is that doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers are more aware of, and more skilled when it comes to, mental health. As Mark Henick, national director of strategic initiatives at the Canadian Mental Health Association puts it, “We’re diagnosing these issues much more readily than we used to and doctors and mental health professionals are more aware than they’ve ever been about what to look for, what questions to ask about mental health and how to determine who needs help.”
Perhaps we’re just becoming better at realizing when we’re unwell.
Are We Generation Mental Illness?
So the question remains: are we Generation Mental Illness? In my personal opinion, and my professional opinion as a Registered Nurse working in mental health, yes and no.
Yes, I think people ages 30 and under are facing unprecedented pressures that no other generation has had to deal with before. No, most of us aren’t off risking our lives in some proxy war with Russia or China, but we’re a lot more uneasy when it comes to life at home. We’re working harder, making less money and our prospects overall seem grim at best. We live in a world full of political divisiveness, disinformation and global uncertainty related to the environment, international politics and a plethora of other issues. Many of us feel voiceless. Many of us feel unheard. Many of us, despite the ability to connect with anyone, anywhere, with the tap of a touch screen, feel more disconnected than ever.
But if I know one thing, it’s that there is hope. It’s true: we’re facing hurdles that no one three or four decades ago could ever have imagined. It’s true: the statistics do show that we’re worse off now in regards to our mental health than even ten years ago. But what else is true is that every generation before us has struggled with something. Whether it was the Great Depression, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, or the economic crash of the 1980s, every generation has had their uphill battles. And how do I know we will overcome the fight for mental health? Because not a single generation before us has truly lost their battles. At the end of the day, whether they ultimately rose to their challenges or not, they survived and they grew.
Don’t mistake my optimism for dismissal. It won’t be easy. It isn’t easy. Living with a mental illness or mental health struggle is certainly one of the most difficult things anyone can ever face, but by bringing awareness to it and talking about it, we’re reducing the stigma and allowing people to seek the help they so desperately need.
If you’re struggling, I want you to know that it gets better. It will get better.
Are we Generation Mental Illness? No. I think that when we look back on this era of mankind, we will end up discovering that we were Generation Mental Health.
If you or someone you know needs help, resources are available. In case of an emergency, please call 911 for immediate help.
In Canada: Call Crisis Services Canada at 1–833–456–4566, text them at 45645 or visit their website to chat with someone
In the USA: Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1–800–273–8255 or visit their website for more information.
In Australia: Call Lifeline at 13 11 14.
In the UK: Call Samaritans at 116 123.
