[Puffer Fish]

“Less than half (47%) of Gen Z Americans are thriving in their lives -- among the lowest across all generations in the U.S. today and a much lower rate than millennials at the same age,” a report from Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation said.

Does Gen Z struggle more with mental health than millennials? New polling shows signs of a shift, Catherine E. Shoichet, CNN, September 14, 2023

I speculated that although the main factor may be economic (including parents, diminished job opportunities and unaffordable housing costs), much of the anxiety may just be anticipation of future worries, even when the teens and young adults are not really actually so much directly affected by those problems yet.
Perhaps academic pressure, a larger share of this age group being pushed towards college, even if they may not feel inclined towards it plays a big role too.

The modern-day job market can be very unforgiving these days. A young person knows if they even make just one or two small mistakes it could ruin their future career prospects and put a middle class standard of living out of reach.

I did find an explanation from one young person that seems to support this hypothesis.


I found this post on Quora that might be revealing:

Why is Generation Z so depressed?

Olivia Baggett in Denver, CO

" I don't think it's one reason. It's a bunch of stuff piled up. We, as future adults, know that we probably won't be anything. We'll grow up, work at a low paying, boring job, then go home and sleep for a while. Then repeat. Nothing exciting, nothing new.

Everyone is always saying that you're not special and that everyone has the same problems. Whoop de ****ing do. Thank you for informing me. Then you have those who think we all think we're special snowflakes. Guess what? Some of us know we're nothing special at all. I'm 14 and I already know this.

I already know that if I don't get a scholarship I'll spend the rest of my life paying off debt. Hell, me and my mom might have to move because she is still paying off her debt and she's 35. She has a degree in law and she's working in some school in Human Resources. We already know this will be us. Crushed under student loans and probably other bullshit like hospital bills and struggling to make ends meet.

Most of us have friends who talk about us behind our backs and we know it. Loyalty is rare now; people can't keep their mouths shut.

We're not allowed to make mistakes. If we do it'll ruin our reputation, make school a living hell, and be told that we'll never get anywhere for getting a B in math class.

School takes up all our time. If you want good grades you have to study all the time and drop the stuff that makes you happy. We're poor and can't afford to do stuff we enjoy that costs money. We're called fat and blamed for it when we're sat down on our asses for 7 hours everyday in a classroom. We're pressured into having hourglass figures and perfect faces. It’s all so exhausting.

But we're all thrown into the idiot group because a couple of dumbasses decided to eat tide pods. We can't have opinions, we're too young. “You're 14; you don't know what it's really like”.

Yeah. Yeah, I do. I've watched my mom have to hop from job to job to make ends meet, I've watched her work her ass off to keep this town house and keep me fed. I've seen her put in extra hours to get me the newest video game. Trust me, I know what's waiting for me when I physically become an adult. It won't be partying, getting married, having fun, etc. It'll be paying off debt and working day and night to come home and make my own food and then sleep and repeat.

And I realized this all at the ripe age of 12. Not even a teenager yet.

Sorry this turned into a little rant, I didn't expect to feel so strongly about it lol. "

https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Generation-Z-so-depressed


related threads:
Younger adult generation shows higher suicide rates amid rising financial pressures (in North America, 18 Jul 2023)
lingering effects of Recession showing up in Millennial generation's health (in North America, 9 Nov 2019 )

Mother rants about how unaffordable life is for her adult children (in Economics & Capitalism, 29 Jul 2023 )
Are Millennials screwed? (in Economics & Capitalism, 2 Dec 2022)

[Puffer Fish]

Half of young adults had anxiety and depression in 2023

The U.S. Census Bureau's Household Pulse Survey found that about a third of American adults reported anxiety and depression symptoms in 2023, and that young adults are more likely than adults of other age groups to experience these symptoms, with half (50%) of adults ages 18 to 24 reporting anxiety and depression symptoms.

Latest Federal Data Show That Young People Are More Likely Than Older Adults to Be Experiencing Symptoms of Anxiety or Depression | KFF

study: The Implications of COVID-19 for Mental Health and Substance Use, Nirmita Panchal, Heather Saunders, Robin Rudowitz, and Cynthia Cox, published March 20, 2023

It's a sign that young adults are under a lot of psychological pressure and not doing well psychologically.

Here's an article with a graph that shows that the suicide rate for younger Americans between the ages of 10 to 24 increased 60% between 2011 to 2021.
Suicide rate increased 60% since 2011 among US youth and young adults: CDC report - ABC News (go.com)

The suicide rate for those between the ages of 15 to 24 increased 67% between 2012 and 2022.
CDC: Child, Teen Suicide Rates Fell in 2022 (edweek.org)

[Kingoffrogs]

Behavioral Sink is setting in and a sedentary lifestyle in an urban polluted area doesn't help either.

[Godstud]

They are the weakest generation and that tends to make people more susceptible to unhappiness.