How Millennials and Gen Z Are Shaping a New Mental Health Landscape

We live in an era where mental health conversations are becoming more and more accessible than ever before. But with each generation, the mental health landscape shifts.

I was born in 1991 and I belong to the Millennial generation. We are often called the ''burnout generation'', and why not? Many of us were told from a young age that ''If we put X amount of effort, we get X amount of success''. We grew up believing that if we work hard enough, we will achieve milestones of success like having a respectable job, a home, financial stability etc. If you are from Asia like I am, milestones also include marriage and children. But the world has changed so much, that it's become vastly different to the one that we were promised.

The financial crisis in 2008 left many millennials feeling hopeless. We were dealing with a pile of student debt, a lack of career opportunities and an uncertain economic landscape. This led to the need for us to hustle and it has been ingrained in our culture since then. As a result, we have felt burnout, stress, anxiety etc.

Along with an economic shift, we were also dealing with a digital shift that took place. When we entered adulthood, social media was exploding. It almost became not so cool to not have a Hi5 or a Myspace account. However, if there was one thing we were good at, it was adapting and we adapted fast. But social media became a double-edged sword for us - a place to connect with friends but also a place of comparison. If we didn't match up to the lives of our peers, we felt like we were 'falling behind'.

Generation Z on the other hand, was born with smartphones in their hands and became the first generation to grow up entirely in a digital age. While millennials had a foot in both the pre and post-Internet ages, Gen Z has known nothing but hyper-connectivity. This constant connection comes with its own issues.

There is pressure to maintain a flawless online image, be someone 'important', or the fear of missing out. These idealised versions of success have led to an increase in feeling inadequate, anxious and depressed. But there is also a key difference between us millennials and Gen Z - they are incredibly open to talking about mental health. In fact, it's their right. Gen Z are knowledgeable about self-care, therapy and mental health struggles, that previous generations lack. Despite it being essential for them to talk about their mental health, they still face a mental health crisis.

The similarities? Well both generations face immense pressures, but those pressures come from different places. Millennials are often caught in the middle of expectations around the economy and success, while Gen Z is navigating the pressures of an online presence and the uncertainty in future due to political polarisation and the evolving job market. Despite all of this, there is something that connects us and that is living in a world that is evolving fast, too demanding and too uncertain.

There's also a lot we can learn from each other. Millennials have faced burnout, had to reframe their relationship with work and learned to implement healthy boundaries. We have had to learn the hard way that it's not sustainable to be working all the time, and many of us are now realising the importance of mental health and normalising conversations around this. Work-life balance has become a top value of ours and more and more millennials are opting for flexible work to safeguard this.

Gen Z on the other hand, have been vocal about their mental health from the start, and self-care is no longer something that only matters after they have burnt out. It's a huge step forward for our society when Gen Z are normalising conversations around depression, anxiety and going to therapy. But it would be beneficial for Gen Z to take a page out of Millennial's book and learn to unplug from the digital world to avoid comparison etc.

As we navigate life’s complexities, supporting each other becomes more essential than ever. The struggles we face - burnout, stress, social media pressures, and finding purpose - aren’t going away. But by breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health, openly addressing our challenges, and advocating for accessible support, we equip ourselves to face these pressures. Together, we can build a culture that values mental health as foundational, not optional -empowering us all to live with resilience, balance, and authenticity.

Mental health is not a luxury, it's a necessity. We need to thrive, and not just survive.

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