Is Gen Z more mentally ill, or do they just talk about it more?

Highlight of the week: A fellow at Harvard’s Applied Social Media Lab reached out as a fan of Doomscrollers. Stay tuned for future collabs & check out his blog… 👀

This is Part 1 of a 4-part series on digital wellness, exploring why young people are more mentally ill and how technology plays a role.

Two summers ago, I was in India researching the future of news consumption for work with Northwestern University. We conducted interviews across the north and south with 18 to 25-year-olds from various backgrounds, each lasting over 3 hours. 🕐

During that time, we learned much more about these participants than just their news habits. We heard about their social circles, aspirations, beliefs, and the events that shaped them.

One experience stood out in particular. 

A 19-year-old in Delhi recalled a tumultuous period in her life. A few years earlier, she was struggling with her parents and secretly sought out therapy – something still very taboo (especially among older Indians) – she told us. When she met her therapist, she opened up about the challenges she faced and how it was impacting her mental health. 🧑‍⚕️

The therapist listened before sharing her diagnosis: “You’re fine. What you’re experiencing is normal. Go home, and only come back if it’s still an issue in 3 months.”  

Whoa, I thought. 

I was so used to the rhetoric that everyone’s mental health struggles are serious and should not be challenged. I couldn’t fathom a therapist turning away a patient like that – or at least not in North America.

@matthiasjbarker

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Getting the facts straight on mental health

One of Gen Z’s distinguishing attributes is their obsession with mental health. ❤️‍🩹

Whether you’re an optimist who thinks they’re smashing stigmas or a skeptic who’s concerned we’ve overmedicated an entire generation, we can all agree that Gen Z talks about mental health more. 

But are they actually more mentally ill? 🤔

I went down a rabbit hole to answer this question so you don’t have to. Here’s what I learned:

Insight 1: Gen Z is 2x more likely to report struggling with their mental health and be treated for it than other generations.

More young people say they suffer from anxiety or depression than those who report no mental health struggles – a stark contrast to older generations. 

It’s important to note the question is self-reported and does not ask participants whether a healthcare professional has formally diagnosed them. 

Could this be inflated?

Insight 2: Yes, it could be, since nearly 1 in 3 Gen Z are self-diagnosing on social media.

This is higher than any other generation.

Of those, only 50% sought out a medical professional to verify their diagnosis. 

Unlike millennials and Gen X who turn to YouTube for mental health advice, Gen Z’s searching for answers on TikTok, where the most common diagnosis is… ADHD. 😵‍💫

Pretty much every credible healthcare provider is sounding the alarm on the glorification of mental illness on social media. But this isn’t the full story.

Insight 3: More young people are self-harming and committing suicide than before.

This is what researchers would call a “hard metric”. While anxiety and depression are much more difficult to measure accurately, youth suicide rates are carefully tracked and reported by national governments. 🚨

Even though in most high-income countries (except the US), mental health has improved overall in the last 20 years, data shows that young people face an unprecedented rise in hospitalizations due to self-harm (more prevalent among girls) and suicides (more prevalent among boys). 

This is true across the developed world and among high-income and low-income youth. 

So, to answer the original question: Is Gen Z more mentally ill or do they just talk about it more? 

The answer is both.

To find out why, keep an eye out for part 2 next week…

So what?

💡 For marketers & builders

• TLDR… Young people are genuinely struggling, but they’re also more open about it than ever.

• Ask yourself… How can you acknowledge their challenges without seeming fake or transactional?

• Check this out… Vogue outlines mental health-related campaigns that worked.

🫂 For parents & advocates

• TLDR… Young girls have seen the biggest rise in mental health-related issues, but young boys are still most at risk of dying from it.

• Ask yourself… How can you teach emotional resilience without dismissing real struggles?

• Check this out…Go down your own rabbit hole on After Bable.

🤳 For Gen Z

• TLDR… You’re the most self-aware generation but also the most self-diagnosed.

• Ask yourself… What’s the line between normalizing mental illness and romanticizing it?

• Check this out…One of my favorite scenes from The White Lotus season 2.

– Your Internet Translator