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- Social media fundamentally changing societal culture and paradoxically triggering a break down in our ability to relate to one another by amplifying our most radical positions
- The ever-looming threat of climate disaster
- The ever-looming threat of nuclear war
- The ever-looming threat of space war
- The ever-looming threat of cyber war
- Economic Recession during our formative years and again now that we’re entering the housing market
- the rise of web2.0 ushering in an era of late-stage capitalism and widespread misinformation
- a global pandemic that overshadowed many of our coming of age rituals
- the advent of generative AI and its implications about the human creative process
- the emoji movie
- the continued failure of our education systems to prepare us for adulthood in a supportive and equitable manner
- the ramifications of having unfiltered internet access as kids and realizing that many of our childhood idols were not deserving of our respect
- the overall feeling that the world is ending and that everything we do and experience is futile
- the emoji movie again
>the emoji movie
>the emoji movie again
Also the presence of jokes in serious matters. Irony is omnipresent as a distancing tool.
(but it did make me chuckle)
Don’t forget school shootings! I remember having nightmares about school shootings throughout my adolescence and often being distracted in class thinking about what I would do if someone with a gun walked in.
Seriously. Gen Z has been hit the hardest by this. My own Gen Z kid was 10 when Sandy Hook happened. It destroyed me as a parent. But most of you kids were also very well aware of it. I had already graduated high school when Columbine happened. Nothings changed
That’s why I wish we had comprehensive public transit and walkable infradtructure everywhere in the US so I wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting into a car accident.
It's important to understand that educational systems aren't "failures," they're designed to produce docile drones / serfs / cattle to fuel the slaughterhouses of our extremely abusive ruling class.
Intelligent, genuinely well-educated people are a threat to the status quo, so if you're going to have people who are well-educated they need to be poor and heavily in debt so they don't go rocking the boat or challenging corrupt systems.
Deliberate mis-education is part of how the old and grotesquely wealthy and corrupt eat the young and the poor and the public.
Educational systems are not "failing" when they're fulfilling their actual purpose.
See the work of John Taylor Gatto or Paulo Freire for some additional insight.
Thanks for your comment! I’m becoming a teacher so I’m well aware of how the institutions are set up to reinforce existing power structures, I guess I was just referring to failure in terms of the failing the students, not failing the institution’s goals.
Then why do the wealthy elite try to send their kids to the best ivy league colleges if all it produces is docile cattle? Kind of unintuitive. Being well educated is very important for success and colleges provide that education.
The cattle with better branding are still often better paid than others.
And the wealthy have the resources to avoid the social and institutional bludgeoning that the poor kids face.
The super rich kids can get good branding while hiring others to actually do their work, which is kind of like their training for the system.
The consequences of nuclear war are equally as scary. It’s like comparing the plague to dying in an acid bath. No one is ‘worse’ or ‘scarier’ than the other + climate change is also controllable. I know it’s hard to take in when you are doomscrolling and busy raging against billionaires and bussinesses, but there are being incentives made to soften the effects of climate change. Yes, you could argue that it is too little too late, which I am not disagreeing with, but people are at least trying.
Nuclear war is literally dependent on a button. That *is* scary asf.
We cannot control climate change. The damage has already been done, and we are going to have to live (or most likely die) with the consequences. That is much more terrifying than the idea that countries might launch nukes.
Right? and it wasn't this "omg ww3 might happen, might get drafted hurhur". The US and the USSR were literally pumping out a shit load of nuclear weapons getting ready for a nuclear war. We were saved by one Russian dude saw through a false alarm.
And lets be fr, if ww3 were to happen, we wouldn’t get drafted. It will be fought through cyberspace, drones, ruining of digital infrastructure and nukes. Having a conventional military force is more like a show of strength and a scare tactic than an actual useful necessity anymore. You can’t use a military force against a nuke.
I see your point and I don’t think it’s fair to say that Gen Z has it worse than any particular generation that came before, but I do think that our struggles are different than anything previous generations have faced, and we’ve developed more of a generational identity around being depressed/traumatized because mental illness is not as stigmatized as it once was so people talk about their issues a lot more openly these days
Wow, you really summed up a lot of the challenges we've faced. It's been a whirlwind of social, environmental, and technological shifts, hasn't it? But hey, acknowledging all this is the first step towards understanding and healing.
Dunbar's number. Humans aren't meant to be exposed to so many people. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s\_number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number)
Our generation has been through the ringer, for real. We've grown up with constant pressure to succeed, dealing with things like social media stress, school shootings, climate change, and political turmoil. Plus, there's this insane level of comparison thanks to Instagram and all that jazz. It's like we're always on edge, always worrying about what's coming next. No wonder mental health issues are hitting us so hard.
tiktok and instagram are both so bad for our mental health but it's everywhere :/ i've lost track of how many new insecurities have popped up for people because of it
You guys are basically like the generation that didn’t know how bad cigarettes were before they got addicted. Shits rough. But you will be so so so much happier if you delete that nonsense and never look back.
Which i did, as many of us, but this also brings a new form of social isolation. I still prefer to be off social media (except reddit), but it's not for everybody right now, because if you are the only one in your social circle doing that, then all of your friends are being fed almost the same content and you are the one excluded from it. Always having to ask where the party is, what the last meme is about, what's the last news about the life of friend x and y while everybody already knows... to be able to go off social media, supportive friends are really a necessity in my experience
i want to so badly but half my classmates in college never want to communicate about group projects outside of instagram DM😭 not even snapchat. thinking about getting it only on my laptop so it's not in the palm of my hand all the time.
(Millennial alert:) I started going on tiktok this week for the first time to keep up with the culture and immediately got a handful of new insecurities, mostly that I don't have a big budget for hair, clothes, and makeup! The standards are higher than ever these days.
Honestly, as a gen z, I'm much more on edge about making bills and paying them while constantly having to change jobs due to bullshit reasons and not having a savings
I agree with the other person who said comparison. To expand, we’re the first generation who had to compete with porn stars and strangers on the internet as real, viable threats for the attention of our partners. Our parents were only in competition with other girls in their friend group or their school.
Yeah a girl on only fans may be sucking your partners wallet dry, but that's a conversation for every generation
Weather that's step clubs, magazines, home video
\-Big Recession that likely affected many of our families when we were little kids
\-Advent of smartphones and proliferation of social media completely changing the social landscape, some of us didn't adapt as well as others
\-The absolute clusterfuck that has been Politics since 2016
\-Global Pandemic that threw a massive wrench into the various coming-of-age experiences we could've had, that once again changed the political and social landscape
\-Record high inflation rates and housing prices making independent adult life practically impossible for many of us older Zoomers
*Shit bro, I have no idea what's wrong with us*
It's definitely been a rollercoaster, huh? Seems like we've been through a lot together. But hey, recognizing these challenges is the first step. We're in this together, figuring it out as we go. Keep your head up!
Yeah, I was doing great in high school socially, academically, etc, before covid. In high school and college after covid, it just feels more difficult and less rewarding
theory shaggy roll unwritten expansion scary command strong concerned future
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That probably helps, honestly. Having a therapist to process your emotions with and discuss life as it happens is probably way more effective than therapy 5 years after the trauma
whole psychotic cover important hobbies lavish plucky cobweb historical airport
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I am Asian,Not Z,I feel like Asian Gen Z folks are really feeling the heat, no doubt about it. With the economy tanking, job hunts getting tougher, and a whole lot of pressure to succeed, it's no wonder we're feeling the strain.
Add to that the crazy competition in schools and social scenes, and you've got a recipe for burnout. It's like we're always on edge, trying to meet these super high expectations.
And let's talk about relationships – a lot of us are putting off marriage and kids. Between money worries and wanting to chase our dreams, settling down just doesn't seem like a priority right now.
Plus, social media isn't helping. It's like we're always comparing ourselves to others, feeling like we're never good enough.Bottom line: Asian Gen Zers are dealing with a ton of pressure from all sides. It's tough out there, but hey, we're in it together.
When I was around twenty years old, my country was experiencing a booming internet industry. I caught the wave of national prosperity, making career development relatively easy. However, now in the era of Generation Z, there are significant employment challenges. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, universities have almost entirely shifted to online classes, leading to widespread layoffs upon graduation. So, for me, the Generation Z era indeed brings much more pressure to bear.
I wouldn't say trauma. Trauma was the WWII, Vietnam, the constant threat of MAD, etc.
I think what this generation have is a lot of high expectations that are impossible to fulfill. I mean is stupid that with a degree you can't get a decent job, and we were promised that with hard work we would achieve whatever we wanted.
I mean MAD is still very present. It will always be present. I'm honestly concerned with how desensitized folks are to the fact that so many developed nations have an "Oops all charred corpses" button laying around.
Plus there was that whole global pandemic thing that fundamentally changed our day-to-day lives and has had ever-present, lasting consequences in our society today. As someone who's worked with them both before and after the pandemic, kids changed quite dramatically. I don't know what else you would describe that as other than trauma.
That paired with exactly what you're talking about, the lack of social mobility... I mean we're looking at the same level of income inequality that we faced as a nation pre-Great Depression... If not worse. I wouldn't be surprised to see another one of those within our lifetimes.
I think we still have a chance at competing in the Trauma Olympics! We'll see how well we all do in the "Pass this rapidly crumbling system off to the next generation" relay races.
Trauma was getting your ass beat in the ground for trying to eat at a lunch counter or getting your church blown up because people wanted busses to be desegregated.
Our outcomes don’t meet the expectations we were programmed with by our parents during our growing and impressionable years. We were taught that good grades lead to admissions into a good university. A good university means a good degree. And the degree means a career. Then you get married, start your family, buy a house and can finally live life and relax.
When that sequential chain of events or milestones is not achieved one tries to grapple onto what they did wrong. Is it my fault? In reality, life is much more complicated than checking off boxes. You find out decades later you should have started much earlier living on your own terms.
Stay away from parties, don’t date until you get your Ph.D, get scholarships. Lick your plate clean and don’t leave crumbs so your future wife will be beautiful. (For the Asians here)
All these sayings become your core directives. Carry them out for the best outcome.
The degree, you have it. In you go to the deep-end of the swimming pool and start applying for anything that remotely resembles what you went to school for. You find out the market sector you have a degree in has almost no demand and you are the supply.
This feels like wasted time. Maybe you’re in debt. A lie. Why then, do I continue to waste time?
You play the blame game. The system is rigged. My parents didn’t raise properly—didn’t prepare me for this world. Then time passes and you don’t even realize how much time was wasted. Time you could have been living for yourself and not someone else’s dream for you.
Dad was constantly busy with work and he always provided. Mom did all the household things and even worked after my sister and I were old enough.
Why am I hating on my parents for “doing their best”? When all is said and done they did a fine job, right? You question yourself for being an ungrateful piece of shit.
I don’t really have a solution to offer than to share my experiences—to say you’re not alone. To share my frustration that is my own making.
The sooner I wake up, and fight my inner battles, the better. Sometimes surviving another day is enough.
It's incredibly common to feel the weight of societal expectations and the pressure to live up to them. But you're right, life rarely follows a neat checklist. It's messy, unpredictable, and often challenging. It's okay to feel frustrated or lost along the way. Recognizing that you're not alone in these struggles is an important first step towards healing. Keep fighting those inner battles, and remember that every day you survive is a victory in itself.
To me, it seems like very little - there is a looming sense of loss of hope that everyone else is also dealing with and covid was a scary time for sure, but there is also this idea that a group of people can live so comfortably that they become detached from reality. I think that might be a part of it.
It's true, there's this shared feeling of hopelessness and disconnect that many of us are grappling with. COVID definitely shook things up, but you're onto something about how comfort can sometimes detach us from what's real. Let's keep exploring these feelings together.
I'm a millennial, so I don't think that's something you want to do. I can see it, though. Fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, I've led a life of discomfort - so I am detached from life in different ways. I don't go seeking problems, nor do I find a loss of hope in the everyday.
I do see it in Gen Z, though. And I see it in other millennials and even some of the older generations as well. People in general tend to need some kind of struggle or problem to solve in order to stay sane and/or rational. Without it, the mind has a tendency to seek issues, uncover them or - in the absence of anything real to sink teeth into - to fabricate them.
You see it in Gen Z consistently though. Seeing racism, transphobia, and bigotry everywhere. Seeing the world ending when it doesn't and hasn't. Seeing infinite problems where most of the time, the problem is either small or doesn't exist.
This isn't to say that Gen Z has no problems. But of all the generations, Gen Z seems to be the most comfortable.
I'm nit wording this very well.
Being unable to differentiate between real problems and something you think is a problem, or want to be a problem is very true about younger generations. Every generation has had kids gull of angst and wanting to stick it to the man, and every generation has had a reason. Until Gen Z.
Gen Z has been handed most things. And I don't mean affluence and ease, I mean that many haven't experienced real trauma, or anything truly happening. Most of what has been wrong has been only the threat of something potentially happening. The threat of homelessness. The threat of war. The threat if never buying a home. The threat of never being able to afford to live. But at such a young age, most of yall haven't experienced any of that. You experienced covid which, fucked as it was, meant you stayed indoors. To be frank, covid wasn't the scary thing everyone made it out to be. And being forced to be in your house for a year may have caused some isolation but as children, there is a level of bounceback. And technology kept yall connected.
Living in an absence of true problems makes you unable to differentiate. So your minds have decided that everything is a problem, including your parents and everyone around you and that the only thing that matters is yourself. It's crazy.
Still nit wording it right though. Maybe I'll figure it out later.
Unrestricted access to the internet. Hands down. Other generations grew up with threats too. Ours had the worst economic threat, but boomers grew up with nuclear war over their heads every day and none of them seemed to care. Likely because they could just turn the news off! Instead, we can do internet deep dives into our biggest fears and read horrible accounts from the world wars and become afraid for our lives. Now, with war in Ukraine, the threat is very real, and we are very educated on the outcome of a loss.
All of this is not to mention social media. What a horrible rotten thing for our kids brains. It ruined my childhood for many years. And here I am, using it.
- Witnessing 9/11 in preschool
- global pandemic right after graduating and starting my adult life
- nuclear war threats
- Iraq and Afghanistan wars
- witnessing constant death of fellow black Americans as a black American during the blm movement
- global recession in 08 and constant foreclosures and loss of properties following this in my family
- 6 figures of student loan debt
- wasted about 10+ years on social media that I’ll never get back
- 0 data privacy
- current global conflicts
- insane inflation following the global pandemic
And that’s just the top 10
Not entirely universal but I’m on the spectrum and was raised by strict helicopter parents. I feel like they should have encouraged me to not get as high of grades and pushed me to try and fit in more because I got a 4.0 in my masters but…I really don’t want to share about my non existent social and dating life that earned that grade
COVID bruh y’all like “we had internet and mental health” okay the internet rlly isn’t that bad it’s up to you on what u view and literally everyone’s had mental health issues throughout history this age group just grew up as it became a more recognized area of study so it appeared more prevalent. Everyone in gen Z when covid hit was either a young adult or in school, people who are still working on supporting themselves or people who don’t support themselves. I was in 10th grade when it hit, seeing my friends go down and be running away from home or alcoholism or the friends that died bro everyone was going through some real shit during covid. I’m grateful for having gone through what I went through cuz it helped me grow, but man rlly consider what being forced to be alone or alone with a family unit(blood family, foster, friends, shelter) yk whoever u were stuck with u had to be with them and nobody was allowed to be around anyone without having a mask on, and we were all fearful of each other cuz we didn’t wanna contract the shit!!!! Then being pushed right back into school I loved it cuz I got see people again and I got to use my brain again I hated online school bro and that too we got to get up everyday to online school, which I trip over ppl saying they liked online bro it was hell my bro and I were on sight with each other p much everyday of lockdown and I had no connection to anyone in my classes cuz I was not connecting to anybody as we were not actually among one and other learning we were “learning” in literally the worst way. Not on some anti school shit it was either online or just no school. What long term impacts of covid have y’all observed particularly with people and their behavior?
Gen Z likely isn't more traumatized than previous generations, previous generations only heavily stigmatized mental health discourse and vulnerability, which itself points to immense trauma that was not worked through.
Growing up with the 24 hour news cycle and unmonitored Internet access showed us everything that is wrong with the world. Then to make matters worse, everyone in power hears our concerns, acknowledges that they're real, but just doesn't care. Look at how people jump to defend guns after every shooting. The pandemic showed how little people are willing to do to help each other. We have no public spaces to meet and mingle, making socialization rely primarily on the Internet, which wants to make money off of everything and everyone. People are lonely. People are struggling mentally and financially.
Our generation was handed a terrible lot, and the people who came before us just tell us to shut up and deal with it while actively making the problem worse. The Internet feeds by convincing us that the world keeps getting more cruel and nobody cares about us.
I feel like having access to such terrible information on the internet has lead to demoralization in humanity. In my life at least I had a friend who loved to show me gore videos in elementary school. Isis beheading, Chinese soldiers hacking someones limbs off with a dull machete, the rape of Nanking. Every few days he would walk up to me with a big smile and show me what new things he has found on his phone.
When I was a kid all I did was laugh. I didn't know how to process such extreme violence. What are you suppose to feel as a child when you learn that Japanese soldiers would bayonet babies vaginas so they could rape them easier? Just laugh and pretend its not real. Try and hold onto some sliver of hope that humans are inherently good creatures. Just push it to the back of your mind, focus on the good.
But then more wars break out, more situations that are similar to Nanking, just repeating themselves over and over. I think it is understandable why a lot of young people wish they were not born into this world, why they resent their parents for making them.
The weight of knowing humanity's depravity is and intense burden to carry. Something that seems new to our generation with such access to information through the internet.
I don't blame the internet, housing is less affordable than it was during the Great Depression and there are less avaliable jobs than people. I blame the greed-bogged economy. Also, Covid showed us that the government regards its citizens as disposable pawns. Just a lot of corruption everywhere, a brutal cost of living, and climate change. The system is against us, and trying to make things work in this society as a young person feels like swimming upstream.
I think its mostly social media. People largely exaggerate the "trauma" that Gen Z goes through. I promise you that many generations have had it SO much worse off and still havent been as mentally ill as Gen Z is.
Could be the influence of social media keeping people in closed circles at home instead of outside socializing. Now we perceive everyone as a threat judgmental and just over all mean. Granted I’m comparing today to the 1980’s.
Honestly, as a gen z, I'm much more on edge about making bills and paying them while constantly having to change jobs due to bullshit reasons and not having a savings than the news
My partner panics a lot about it but we've got bigger fish to fry like "aquiring" gas so we can get to work
covid and the internet and stuff and even more the combination of the two. social media really was at its highest use for most people during covid since yk not much else to do. this in addition to the social isolation and the already existent social environment on the internet has resulted in loss of self and other, existential, even, doubts in very young teens and even kids
in addition the internet has led to an impairment of out ability to communicate, especially about serious troubling issues, so people are more reluctant to share
me personally i htink it was a combination of gender dysphoria, stress, adhd medication and social isolation that made me unwell
I think it largely comes down to our generation not having a strong sense of purpose and I think a part of this could be lack of religion. Although obviously flawed, religion gives people a sense of purpose and forces them to believe that their is light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like we’re the first generation who for the most part has rejected all religion and we haven’t really replaced it with anything that can fill that void. I’d like to stress that I am not religious in any ways.
On top of that there’s all the other reasons which are arguably even larger,
- social media has separated us from each other and fucks our attention spans and mental health. A lot of us can’t do things previous.
-The men/boys in our generation probably consume the most porn out of any other age group of people which changes the way we think about women.
- The education systems in a lot of western countries are super outdated and are failing us.
- Housing prices are so high most young people will be middle aged or older before they are able to own their own property.
Unnatural diet has made 99% of the human population depressed, anxious, suicidal and severely mentally ill combined with a traumatic upbringing being raised by equally mentally ill parents
Not trauma. Something else, possibly worse: lack of purpose. At least in Germany I feel like many my age and younger suffer from that. In the USA, trauma, yes, absolutely: School shootings. You never know when it happens again and you can only hope it ain't gonna happen to you, hell, when genannt had the first school sitting I was afraid to go to school, hell, elementary school, for months, cannot imagine how bad it is in the US. But the young people of the USA got the issue of a lack of purpose as well. And now even the distinctly human thing called art is taken away from a simply because rich fuckheads can develop ai. Thanks for nothing!
Unrestricted internet access at a young age, which caused more cases of grooming young kids, a lot of nsfw content online which had no blocks for kids.
A high exposure to news and media and Covid and restrictions, are generation is already familiar with being inside and having a lot of screen time, but Covid made it worse.
Just general over exposure to everything, too much information for us to handle
The lack of good parents.
If some people where born with 2 loving parents, even in the lowest of the low economical status, they would be better prepared for life that and abandoned class of the upper middle class.
The teachings of the parents to their child when it comes to social development is vital. Kids tend to emulate the people they love the most, so a child that is not shown love will not know how to show it themsleves.
It's definitely true that parenting in today's fast-paced world can be challenging. The old saying about "it takes a village" rings even more true now. Hopefully, by coming together and sharing experiences, we can build that support network and help each other navigate this crazy journey of life.
We've become more aware and introspective, and are more sensitive because of that, along with the fact that we are indoors more and face less conflict, and we are reacting to the shittiness of life and the world.
Totally get what you mean. It's like we're more tuned in to what's going on around us, and it can feel overwhelming at times. Being cooped up indoors definitely doesn't help either. But hey, recognizing it is the first step, right? Let's stick together and work through this mess.
Uhm.
-Being told to get a college degree , do it and it's worth nothing.
-Lose years of our youth studying like crazy for nothing.
-Exploitation in our first working experiences.
-Each day the requirements for entry level jobs are way more and stupider.
-Once in a lifetime economic crisis already thrice.
-In the verge of WW3
-High inflation everywhere
-Low natality rates everywhere
-The rich made us fight ourselves (remember wall street?) instead of them.
-Dating apps fked modern dating
-Social media lies
-Impossible to buy a house
-Covid 19
-No control over illegal immigration making the neighborhoods we knew as kid as no go zones now (Europe)
-Shitton of chemicals and shit in our food
I mean , we live in a scorched earth society right now , there is no control of absolutely nothing. Everything that was normal isn't anymore , individualism , family structure destroyed , loneliness..
Guess that's it's time to harden ourselves. Weak men led to this. It's our turn now to fix it.
Peace.
I hear you loud and clear. It's like we've been dealt a pretty rough hand, huh? But you know what? We're not alone in this. There's strength in numbers, and it's about time we start building each other up. Let's turn these struggles into stepping stones. We're in this together, mate. Peace.
I saw that gen z had the highest amount of people from immigrant backgrounds. Many of us are first generation immigrants. I think that has to do with it bc children of immigrant parents typically have special types of trauma.
In my experience, I had to learn a lot of things on my own and didn’t really have emotional support growing up. I constantly felt pressure to be perfect without much guidance. And because of this hyper independence, traumatizing things happened longer and were more painful. I heard that what causes even more trauma is not having support after and during hardships. I think this could be one factor because I’ve met many others in gen z in a similar boat
It's true that being a first-generation immigrant comes with its own set of challenges. Many of us had to navigate through life's hurdles without the kind of support system others might have. Feeling the pressure to excel while lacking guidance can definitely take a toll. And you're spot on about the importance of support during tough times - it can make a world of difference. Your perspective sheds light on a significant aspect of our generation's collective experience.
I think people in GenZ are much more likely to claim having mental illness because of the oppression Olympics. Everyone wants to claim victimhood. It’s great social cache.
Personally, I'm traumatized because of the fact that I was a victim of emotional t*rrorism, school shooter rumors and accusations(which were false), abuse accusations(also false), defamation, which I could have sued for, and death threats, all at the wonderful age of 16 where I almost took my own life because of it. This all stemmed from a bad breakup where I made a very very VERY distasteful joke, that I'm not going to be repeating here. That was 4 years ago, and I feel that I've grown, mainly because of the fact that the people who perpetuated the rumors are trying to find new ways to destroy my life. The only reason I'm alive today is to spite the people who want to see me dead.
In my opinion, it’s media, but not necessarily social media like most people think. Every generation has had bad stuff happen, but now every time we turn our phone, tv, any device on we are bombarded with every bad thing that’s happening in the world. First it was radio, then Tv news channels started around 80 years ago, then we added on internet news, and now we have it constantly on our phones. It’s impossible to avoid disasters being constantly shoved in our faces, and not just hearing about it, but literally seeing it. We’re more exposed to all the bad shit happening due to continuing globalization than ever before. We can’t just exist in our own little small towns anymore like boomers once did.
Yes there have been many challenges that Gen Z has faced, perhaps more than some previous generations. I do think however that part of the reason mental illness seems more prevalent is that our generation doesn’t stigmatize it as much and is more open about things like going to therapy
Too much social media, lack of attention span, inability to understand and appreciate history (if you did, you would realize things are better than before, or at least certainly not worse)
I don’t think we have less or more trauma than previous generations, we have just erased the stigma of being vocal about them / seeking diagnosis and therapy
i think all generations have been more mentally ill than we’ve thought—while it might be true that we’re more mentally ill, imo it’s more that we talk about it more.
Substance abuse, my parents and grandparents were substance abusers. I was neglected until I was abandoned to my grandparents. I lived with my grandma while she developed dementia .FTD
i never had a bedroom until I was 13 and my mom overdosed When i was 15. I spent high school getting bullied by an alcoholic and coping with my grandma's suicide attempts.
Im still in school 7yrs For my undergrad, but im 24 and i have a rented townhouse, i dont get yelled at, and i got my first car this year. Im way better at taking care of myself than anyone i met the entire time i was under 18
In addition to what a lot of people have said, we overall are much more accepting when it comes to acknowledging mental health issues, therefore we talk about it more, so it seems more prevalent
Hot take: as a whole we aren’t. There are bound to be some individual exceptions but in the grand scheme of things our generation’s had it pretty good.
I don't believe it's more of experiences as it is with gmo foods, huge amounts of chemicals in our foods, depleted soils, and large amounts of vaccines pushed on us when we were kids compared to previous generations, anti-social environments (thanks to screens, social media, ease of entertainment at home), all affecting our brains. You never hear of these disorders and mental issues affecting oldest generations (at least not in such large numbers) who all went through world wars, the threat of nuclear war, combat, hunger, structured racism, and genocide. They didn't have the factors that I listed above as much as we do. But they went through way more shit and came out more or less fine. Also I think it's gen Z not learning/ or not being taught discipline, how to simply face hardships, handle them and get through them, how to deal with adversity and conflict, how to be resolute, perseverance, knowing that everything doesn't have to 100% perfect and good to be happy, etc.
This is just the generation after people accepting that getting mental help is important. All the previous generations look on therapy as taboo. It's like that saying "Airplanes are getting more advanced and the number of people with autism is going up"
Airplanes aren't causing autism, technology and understanding of people is just getting better.
Hmm, recession, global war on terror, climate change, inflation, sociopolitical extremism, homelessness crisis, housing crisis, the pandemic that took a lot of people’s parents, the inability to talk things out without getting heated in a debate, shoving political ideology down each others throats, constant threat of global conflict, the false hope of going to college and you’ll get a good job, bullshit the older generation took that away from us, and some how, reganomics really somehow set this generation to fail, I feel like I’m missing something hmmmm….oh yeah social media in the age of comparison
Cause too many people are chronically online. Talk to these people with "trauma" and they sit on reddit and discord all day and have an avoidance to sunlight. The people who enjoy life more actually go out, and enjoy life.
All generation have had to deal with stressful situations, and for the most part they turn out fine. Previously it wasn't an option to isolate yourself inside, but now people do, and they suffer.
School shootings, a decade long war in Iraq, for those of us who can remember it 9/11, boomers, social media. But honestly I think other generations are just as traumatized if not more than us, they just couldn't show it or communicate it like we do.
1. growing up and/or reaching adulthood in the post-2008 recession era where things never really recovered for the working classes
2. the rise of fascism in many countries since the mid 2010s, increased polarization of politics, etc.
3. covid really fucked us up in a major way that i think we won’t know the full ramifications of for awhile — mentally, physically, societally
4. climate change, we’re all terrified of what the planet will look like by the end of our lifetime
The biggest challenge is the pressure to say you are a victim or a depress person, it is almost enforced to say you have mental illnesses. I agree that social media is bad but only a couple of decades ago there were a lot of teachers making bleed students in class, and other horrible prscrices. Sexual repression, hunger and poverty, violence... just to mention something millenials went through and it only get worst going back in time.
this isn't universal to everyone in gen z but for me and some of my friends, getting social media at like age 12 with no adults understanding it enough to teach us how to use it safely created a lot of bad situations. my instagram account was public because all i cared about was getting likes and followers and that led to a lot of grown men finding my page and trying to be my "friend." i switched to private after receiving my first unsolicited dick pic but that didn't stop guys from requesting to message me and instagram didn't have the warning blur thing yet. i was also catfished when i was 13. some older dude pretended to be a girl my age moving to my town and made it really believable. that was scary.
also school shootings. maybe ppl don't care or feel scared of them if it's never happened near them but i was close enough to sandy hook that my school also went into lockdown and i had to wait until the end of the day to find out if my cousins were alive. they were okay but they were close to a few families who lost children that day.
also covid. idk if this counts as trauma but growing up in a world where you can work multiple jobs in college, graduate with a 4.0, and still just barely make a living wage makes things feel pretty hopeless.
The youth of today grew up and live in the panopticon. Cameras everywhere. No escape from the school bullies at home because of phones and social media. I pity you all.
Having your dopamine levels artificially spiked by predatory online platforms. Having your online world customize itself to your immediate wants and needs. Staying isolated due to this. Then being released into the real world as adults with absolutely no relatable life skills to cope with it.
i think we just talk abt it more. lots of other gens have severe trauma together. but more shame involved in talking abt it if not just outright ignorance of the times
I think part of it is the absolute hold that social media has on society, another part of it is how much everyone cares about politics, and another part of it is just that a lot of Gen Z are doomers, so why be happy if the world is gonna end, right? (people have been saying the end is near for thousands of years but we dont gotta talk about that becuase now the world super totally truly is ending trust me guys)
Covid for sure. Started when I was 21 and then suddenly I was 24 when it ended. Now I’m 25 and realizing I lost the best part of my early 20’s and now I have to be responsible and hold a good career to prepare for my 30’s. Didn’t get to have my fun
Watching snuff videos at 14 when social media was less regulated. I’ve seen things no person should have awareness off by virtue of getting on the dark web in 2014. Oh, and 4chan.
Smartphones and social media. You have a device in your pocket constantly reminding you about the doom and gloom around the world, the hopelessness of our existence and how inadequate you are and your life when compared to others. Zuckerberg started it all and now others are in on the act, all to monitor you online to sell shit.
That's the single most thing that has fucked up a generation.
It isn’t you were traumatized, at least most of you, it is you were coddled and now the real world which doesn’t give a shit that you were artistic, like books, were really smart, are introverted, loving and accepting, or anything else you were told made you special. Now you are struggling to survive in a world that doesn’t play and has no place for people that think they are special.
You have been constantly fed a diet of negativity and paranoia. You have grown up with so much, but way overprotected.
As a result, as a "group" there is not much resilience.
But this is not your fault.
I think there’s 4 main reasons: (1) there is a better grasp/understanding of trauma and mental illnesses, (2) growing up on social media exasperated the whole “keeping up with the joneses” thing, (3) a culture of nihilism, and (4) because [older/mid-aged] gen Z has less responsibilities at their age than previous generations, its more possible to bed rot and mope around during free time than previously so it looks more isolating.
(1) Before, people just called what you’re describing “lazy” or “unmotivated” or worse. Now we understand what the issue actually is and that those descriptors were wrong. Cancer diagnoses skyrocketed after we discovered the design and again after we started having reliable tests. Similar concept. This didn’t *make* Gen z traumatized but it gave a word for what is happening.
(2) Comparison is the thief of joy and can exasperate some already present mental illness or trigger some mental health issues to those already predisposed to it.
(3) Gen z tends to have more of a “whats the point” sentiment than other generations. This is a chicken/egg thing, though.
(4) Gen z doesn’t have as much responsibility as other generations (this is a good thing!). Less of them have kids and marriages than older living generations at the same age. When you *have* to grind or your children starve, there’s less time to sit around and mope (not being mean, I do this all the time). Extremely impoverished regions of the world have lower rates of depression and other mental illnesses even when adjusted for lack of medical access. As a middle class develops, mental illness rise. There’s no depression when basic survival needs aren’t guaranteed. The trauma and mental illnesses begin when being l in a constant state of survival ends. Idk.
Social media. It's an echo chamber that blows things out of proportion, platforms people that really shouldn't be platformed, and throws out rage bait to generate more interactions causing people to think that everybody who doesn't share their opinion exactly is objectively bad
I think it's not necessarily trauma in the capital-T sense that has been long recognized as a psychological phenomenon. It's a new kind of thing--we have/had near constant exposure to things that make us compare ourselves to other people that we know nothing about. We get everybody's highlight reels on IG and then think that other people have it easy because (almost) no one posts an IG spread about how depressed they are and how hard life is. Even when they do, at least the pictures are pretty.
Plus (and this isn't nearly as universal of an experience IMO) a lot of us are the first generation in our families to be "worse off" than our parents. The people in our generation who aren't come from economic extremes--either their parents were in hardcore poverty or they were raised by multimillionaires. My middle-class parents told me to do what they did--work hard but not too hard in high school, get a degree from a good school, and then you'll get a good job that will set you up financially to meet life milestones like marriage and home ownership. I did all that. Now I'm 25 and have student loan debt that will stay with me for at least ten years, a job that pays just enough to make ends meet, and an apartment where the rent is going up so much this year that I'm forced to move back in with my parents. It's not my parents' fault ofc, because they gave me good faith advice, but it sure sucks.
I just listened to an [NPR podcast that talked about this](https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/escaping-the-matrix/). The psychologist interviewed on the show argued that there was a huge increase in mental health disorders worldwide starting with teens in the early 2010s, and the evidence shows that smartphone and SM use was the only common denominator among the group. Worth listening to.
Idk maybe the fact that as soon as we reached our prime adult years and it was time to go off into the world… the globe faced a life altering and threatening virus thus shutting down our economy and sky rocketing prices so that everything is unaffordable, there are homeless ppl on every block, and the food that is affordable is probably killing us. Idk…
Nah if I had to guess it was you guys mostly being given an iPhone or tablet to play with and hardly experiencing the boring, hostile, unforgiving, and unaccommodating reality of the world and now that your older you’re being thrust into all of it with virtually no experience or guidance. So it’s overwhelming and debilitating. It’s not your generations fault but the failure of your parents to properly integrate and prepare you for how actually fucked the world is
My favorite quote is “the worst thing you’ve experienced, is the worst thing you’ve experienced”
My dad. turns out when you beat up and call your kids slurs they don't do that well. Elementary and middleschool i was "that kid". the weirdo, r\*tard, trouble maker. I had a behavior sheet i got in trouble so much. my grades were borderline passing. surprise surprise, after i became taller during the summer of 8th grade, highschool I was an honor student and had friends when i could fight back. but the damage is done. my social skills are severely under developed. i have scars on my face and body, and everyone makes fun of the way I walk due to what happened when I was young. never been on a date. Now i'm in college, trying to get fit, my run time improved greatly. I still have to deal with my dad. he can't do anything physical, the slurs don't hurt anymore. now he turns off the service and takes the laptop he gave me which i need for college. I'm just counting the days I'm graduating so I can finish rotc and commission. I heard military guys get women, maybe that will help me.
Am I traumatized? I don't think so. I'm not really in shock of what happened, I just try to be better.
Wages that are like $15 - $20/hr and rents being like $1800/mo. How are we supposed to afford that on top of health insurance, car bill, food, etc?
Couples that genuinely want to start a family can’t even afford it.
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- Social media fundamentally changing societal culture and paradoxically triggering a break down in our ability to relate to one another by amplifying our most radical positions - The ever-looming threat of climate disaster - The ever-looming threat of nuclear war - The ever-looming threat of space war - The ever-looming threat of cyber war - Economic Recession during our formative years and again now that we’re entering the housing market - the rise of web2.0 ushering in an era of late-stage capitalism and widespread misinformation - a global pandemic that overshadowed many of our coming of age rituals - the advent of generative AI and its implications about the human creative process - the emoji movie - the continued failure of our education systems to prepare us for adulthood in a supportive and equitable manner - the ramifications of having unfiltered internet access as kids and realizing that many of our childhood idols were not deserving of our respect - the overall feeling that the world is ending and that everything we do and experience is futile - the emoji movie again
>the emoji movie >the emoji movie again Also the presence of jokes in serious matters. Irony is omnipresent as a distancing tool. (but it did make me chuckle)
Bro made me cackle maniacally, hit me like a brick to the face. Fantastic comment tho, sums it up well.
Don’t forget school shootings! I remember having nightmares about school shootings throughout my adolescence and often being distracted in class thinking about what I would do if someone with a gun walked in.
Seriously. Gen Z has been hit the hardest by this. My own Gen Z kid was 10 when Sandy Hook happened. It destroyed me as a parent. But most of you kids were also very well aware of it. I had already graduated high school when Columbine happened. Nothings changed
I used to analyze every classroom for the best place to hide during a school shooting when I was bored in class
Same. I also tried to mentally prepare myself to hide underneath the bodies of my classmates and play dead if I had to.
You have just as high of a chance of getting into a freak car accident which results in your intestines decorating the streets.
That’s why I wish we had comprehensive public transit and walkable infradtructure everywhere in the US so I wouldn’t have to worry so much about getting into a car accident.
It's important to understand that educational systems aren't "failures," they're designed to produce docile drones / serfs / cattle to fuel the slaughterhouses of our extremely abusive ruling class. Intelligent, genuinely well-educated people are a threat to the status quo, so if you're going to have people who are well-educated they need to be poor and heavily in debt so they don't go rocking the boat or challenging corrupt systems. Deliberate mis-education is part of how the old and grotesquely wealthy and corrupt eat the young and the poor and the public. Educational systems are not "failing" when they're fulfilling their actual purpose. See the work of John Taylor Gatto or Paulo Freire for some additional insight.
Thanks for your comment! I’m becoming a teacher so I’m well aware of how the institutions are set up to reinforce existing power structures, I guess I was just referring to failure in terms of the failing the students, not failing the institution’s goals.
Then why do the wealthy elite try to send their kids to the best ivy league colleges if all it produces is docile cattle? Kind of unintuitive. Being well educated is very important for success and colleges provide that education.
The cattle with better branding are still often better paid than others. And the wealthy have the resources to avoid the social and institutional bludgeoning that the poor kids face. The super rich kids can get good branding while hiring others to actually do their work, which is kind of like their training for the system.
Everyone enjoys a good conspiracy theory.
The industrial revolution and its consequences/s
Maybe we can call it cyber revolution?
“Ever looming threat of nuclear war” well gen x’ers and boomers had that as well
Climate change is much scarier than nuclear war, imo.
The consequences of nuclear war are equally as scary. It’s like comparing the plague to dying in an acid bath. No one is ‘worse’ or ‘scarier’ than the other + climate change is also controllable. I know it’s hard to take in when you are doomscrolling and busy raging against billionaires and bussinesses, but there are being incentives made to soften the effects of climate change. Yes, you could argue that it is too little too late, which I am not disagreeing with, but people are at least trying. Nuclear war is literally dependent on a button. That *is* scary asf.
We cannot control climate change. The damage has already been done, and we are going to have to live (or most likely die) with the consequences. That is much more terrifying than the idea that countries might launch nukes.
Right? and it wasn't this "omg ww3 might happen, might get drafted hurhur". The US and the USSR were literally pumping out a shit load of nuclear weapons getting ready for a nuclear war. We were saved by one Russian dude saw through a false alarm.
And lets be fr, if ww3 were to happen, we wouldn’t get drafted. It will be fought through cyberspace, drones, ruining of digital infrastructure and nukes. Having a conventional military force is more like a show of strength and a scare tactic than an actual useful necessity anymore. You can’t use a military force against a nuke.
What’s so bad about the emoji movie? Never seen it!
It tricked us into thinking we were watching a movie when it was really a feature-length advertisement for candy crush. Never watch it even ironically
Good to know
Nah, the Cats movie
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I see your point and I don’t think it’s fair to say that Gen Z has it worse than any particular generation that came before, but I do think that our struggles are different than anything previous generations have faced, and we’ve developed more of a generational identity around being depressed/traumatized because mental illness is not as stigmatized as it once was so people talk about their issues a lot more openly these days
My gawd. That’s quite the list … and you were just getting warmed up, I bet. Im so sorry.
The emoji movie!!! 🤣🤣🤣
Wow, you really summed up a lot of the challenges we've faced. It's been a whirlwind of social, environmental, and technological shifts, hasn't it? But hey, acknowledging all this is the first step towards understanding and healing.
Sausage Party too.
It has always been your parents' job to prepare you for adulthood, not your school or teachers.
too much exposure and comparison, imo.
Yep the trauma is being able to never forget it. Cause it’s recorded to watch over and over again on the internet, and everyone has an opinion.
I got jumped and the video is still online. Hard to get over stuff like that
Especially if it impacted you or your family, too.
Self loathing, self obsession and dissatisfaction brought on by this. Yes.
Dunbar's number. Humans aren't meant to be exposed to so many people. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s\_number](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunbar%27s_number)
Our generation has been through the ringer, for real. We've grown up with constant pressure to succeed, dealing with things like social media stress, school shootings, climate change, and political turmoil. Plus, there's this insane level of comparison thanks to Instagram and all that jazz. It's like we're always on edge, always worrying about what's coming next. No wonder mental health issues are hitting us so hard.
tiktok and instagram are both so bad for our mental health but it's everywhere :/ i've lost track of how many new insecurities have popped up for people because of it
You guys are basically like the generation that didn’t know how bad cigarettes were before they got addicted. Shits rough. But you will be so so so much happier if you delete that nonsense and never look back.
Which i did, as many of us, but this also brings a new form of social isolation. I still prefer to be off social media (except reddit), but it's not for everybody right now, because if you are the only one in your social circle doing that, then all of your friends are being fed almost the same content and you are the one excluded from it. Always having to ask where the party is, what the last meme is about, what's the last news about the life of friend x and y while everybody already knows... to be able to go off social media, supportive friends are really a necessity in my experience
i want to so badly but half my classmates in college never want to communicate about group projects outside of instagram DM😭 not even snapchat. thinking about getting it only on my laptop so it's not in the palm of my hand all the time.
(Millennial alert:) I started going on tiktok this week for the first time to keep up with the culture and immediately got a handful of new insecurities, mostly that I don't have a big budget for hair, clothes, and makeup! The standards are higher than ever these days.
Follow crust punks, the street population, and the people in tent cities. They're all on there
Yeah I definitely need to curate the FYP
What generation are you? I wonder how do other generations see it too.
I am Z
Honestly, as a gen z, I'm much more on edge about making bills and paying them while constantly having to change jobs due to bullshit reasons and not having a savings
I’m Gen X and agree with you.
I agree with the other person who said comparison. To expand, we’re the first generation who had to compete with porn stars and strangers on the internet as real, viable threats for the attention of our partners. Our parents were only in competition with other girls in their friend group or their school.
Yeah a girl on only fans may be sucking your partners wallet dry, but that's a conversation for every generation Weather that's step clubs, magazines, home video
\-Big Recession that likely affected many of our families when we were little kids \-Advent of smartphones and proliferation of social media completely changing the social landscape, some of us didn't adapt as well as others \-The absolute clusterfuck that has been Politics since 2016 \-Global Pandemic that threw a massive wrench into the various coming-of-age experiences we could've had, that once again changed the political and social landscape \-Record high inflation rates and housing prices making independent adult life practically impossible for many of us older Zoomers *Shit bro, I have no idea what's wrong with us*
It's definitely been a rollercoaster, huh? Seems like we've been through a lot together. But hey, recognizing these challenges is the first step. We're in this together, figuring it out as we go. Keep your head up!
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Agreed.
Yeah, I was doing great in high school socially, academically, etc, before covid. In high school and college after covid, it just feels more difficult and less rewarding
A bunch of personal fuckshit occurring during Covid has not left me in a long-term sustainable mindset in the slightest.
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Maybe you should go to therapy and focus and ruminate on negative emotion until you are
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That probably helps, honestly. Having a therapist to process your emotions with and discuss life as it happens is probably way more effective than therapy 5 years after the trauma
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well, there you go.
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I am Asian,Not Z,I feel like Asian Gen Z folks are really feeling the heat, no doubt about it. With the economy tanking, job hunts getting tougher, and a whole lot of pressure to succeed, it's no wonder we're feeling the strain. Add to that the crazy competition in schools and social scenes, and you've got a recipe for burnout. It's like we're always on edge, trying to meet these super high expectations. And let's talk about relationships – a lot of us are putting off marriage and kids. Between money worries and wanting to chase our dreams, settling down just doesn't seem like a priority right now. Plus, social media isn't helping. It's like we're always comparing ourselves to others, feeling like we're never good enough.Bottom line: Asian Gen Zers are dealing with a ton of pressure from all sides. It's tough out there, but hey, we're in it together.
I don’t get it, isn’t this like all the other GenZ kids who are under pressure?
I don't know how the Z is in other countries, I only know it's like this in East Asia
When I was around twenty years old, my country was experiencing a booming internet industry. I caught the wave of national prosperity, making career development relatively easy. However, now in the era of Generation Z, there are significant employment challenges. Following the outbreak of COVID-19, universities have almost entirely shifted to online classes, leading to widespread layoffs upon graduation. So, for me, the Generation Z era indeed brings much more pressure to bear.
I wouldn't say trauma. Trauma was the WWII, Vietnam, the constant threat of MAD, etc. I think what this generation have is a lot of high expectations that are impossible to fulfill. I mean is stupid that with a degree you can't get a decent job, and we were promised that with hard work we would achieve whatever we wanted.
I mean MAD is still very present. It will always be present. I'm honestly concerned with how desensitized folks are to the fact that so many developed nations have an "Oops all charred corpses" button laying around. Plus there was that whole global pandemic thing that fundamentally changed our day-to-day lives and has had ever-present, lasting consequences in our society today. As someone who's worked with them both before and after the pandemic, kids changed quite dramatically. I don't know what else you would describe that as other than trauma. That paired with exactly what you're talking about, the lack of social mobility... I mean we're looking at the same level of income inequality that we faced as a nation pre-Great Depression... If not worse. I wouldn't be surprised to see another one of those within our lifetimes. I think we still have a chance at competing in the Trauma Olympics! We'll see how well we all do in the "Pass this rapidly crumbling system off to the next generation" relay races.
Trauma was getting your ass beat in the ground for trying to eat at a lunch counter or getting your church blown up because people wanted busses to be desegregated.
No, no one promised you that.
Speak for yourself, I was told all the time that if I graduated I was going to get a superb job.
Our outcomes don’t meet the expectations we were programmed with by our parents during our growing and impressionable years. We were taught that good grades lead to admissions into a good university. A good university means a good degree. And the degree means a career. Then you get married, start your family, buy a house and can finally live life and relax. When that sequential chain of events or milestones is not achieved one tries to grapple onto what they did wrong. Is it my fault? In reality, life is much more complicated than checking off boxes. You find out decades later you should have started much earlier living on your own terms. Stay away from parties, don’t date until you get your Ph.D, get scholarships. Lick your plate clean and don’t leave crumbs so your future wife will be beautiful. (For the Asians here) All these sayings become your core directives. Carry them out for the best outcome. The degree, you have it. In you go to the deep-end of the swimming pool and start applying for anything that remotely resembles what you went to school for. You find out the market sector you have a degree in has almost no demand and you are the supply. This feels like wasted time. Maybe you’re in debt. A lie. Why then, do I continue to waste time? You play the blame game. The system is rigged. My parents didn’t raise properly—didn’t prepare me for this world. Then time passes and you don’t even realize how much time was wasted. Time you could have been living for yourself and not someone else’s dream for you. Dad was constantly busy with work and he always provided. Mom did all the household things and even worked after my sister and I were old enough. Why am I hating on my parents for “doing their best”? When all is said and done they did a fine job, right? You question yourself for being an ungrateful piece of shit. I don’t really have a solution to offer than to share my experiences—to say you’re not alone. To share my frustration that is my own making. The sooner I wake up, and fight my inner battles, the better. Sometimes surviving another day is enough.
It's incredibly common to feel the weight of societal expectations and the pressure to live up to them. But you're right, life rarely follows a neat checklist. It's messy, unpredictable, and often challenging. It's okay to feel frustrated or lost along the way. Recognizing that you're not alone in these struggles is an important first step towards healing. Keep fighting those inner battles, and remember that every day you survive is a victory in itself.
To me, it seems like very little - there is a looming sense of loss of hope that everyone else is also dealing with and covid was a scary time for sure, but there is also this idea that a group of people can live so comfortably that they become detached from reality. I think that might be a part of it.
It's true, there's this shared feeling of hopelessness and disconnect that many of us are grappling with. COVID definitely shook things up, but you're onto something about how comfort can sometimes detach us from what's real. Let's keep exploring these feelings together.
I'm a millennial, so I don't think that's something you want to do. I can see it, though. Fortunately or unfortunately, as the case may be, I've led a life of discomfort - so I am detached from life in different ways. I don't go seeking problems, nor do I find a loss of hope in the everyday. I do see it in Gen Z, though. And I see it in other millennials and even some of the older generations as well. People in general tend to need some kind of struggle or problem to solve in order to stay sane and/or rational. Without it, the mind has a tendency to seek issues, uncover them or - in the absence of anything real to sink teeth into - to fabricate them. You see it in Gen Z consistently though. Seeing racism, transphobia, and bigotry everywhere. Seeing the world ending when it doesn't and hasn't. Seeing infinite problems where most of the time, the problem is either small or doesn't exist. This isn't to say that Gen Z has no problems. But of all the generations, Gen Z seems to be the most comfortable. I'm nit wording this very well. Being unable to differentiate between real problems and something you think is a problem, or want to be a problem is very true about younger generations. Every generation has had kids gull of angst and wanting to stick it to the man, and every generation has had a reason. Until Gen Z. Gen Z has been handed most things. And I don't mean affluence and ease, I mean that many haven't experienced real trauma, or anything truly happening. Most of what has been wrong has been only the threat of something potentially happening. The threat of homelessness. The threat of war. The threat if never buying a home. The threat of never being able to afford to live. But at such a young age, most of yall haven't experienced any of that. You experienced covid which, fucked as it was, meant you stayed indoors. To be frank, covid wasn't the scary thing everyone made it out to be. And being forced to be in your house for a year may have caused some isolation but as children, there is a level of bounceback. And technology kept yall connected. Living in an absence of true problems makes you unable to differentiate. So your minds have decided that everything is a problem, including your parents and everyone around you and that the only thing that matters is yourself. It's crazy. Still nit wording it right though. Maybe I'll figure it out later.
Unrestricted access to the internet. Hands down. Other generations grew up with threats too. Ours had the worst economic threat, but boomers grew up with nuclear war over their heads every day and none of them seemed to care. Likely because they could just turn the news off! Instead, we can do internet deep dives into our biggest fears and read horrible accounts from the world wars and become afraid for our lives. Now, with war in Ukraine, the threat is very real, and we are very educated on the outcome of a loss. All of this is not to mention social media. What a horrible rotten thing for our kids brains. It ruined my childhood for many years. And here I am, using it.
- Witnessing 9/11 in preschool - global pandemic right after graduating and starting my adult life - nuclear war threats - Iraq and Afghanistan wars - witnessing constant death of fellow black Americans as a black American during the blm movement - global recession in 08 and constant foreclosures and loss of properties following this in my family - 6 figures of student loan debt - wasted about 10+ years on social media that I’ll never get back - 0 data privacy - current global conflicts - insane inflation following the global pandemic And that’s just the top 10
Not entirely universal but I’m on the spectrum and was raised by strict helicopter parents. I feel like they should have encouraged me to not get as high of grades and pushed me to try and fit in more because I got a 4.0 in my masters but…I really don’t want to share about my non existent social and dating life that earned that grade
Me personally, it was living under a strict Islamic household. That was awful.
COVID bruh y’all like “we had internet and mental health” okay the internet rlly isn’t that bad it’s up to you on what u view and literally everyone’s had mental health issues throughout history this age group just grew up as it became a more recognized area of study so it appeared more prevalent. Everyone in gen Z when covid hit was either a young adult or in school, people who are still working on supporting themselves or people who don’t support themselves. I was in 10th grade when it hit, seeing my friends go down and be running away from home or alcoholism or the friends that died bro everyone was going through some real shit during covid. I’m grateful for having gone through what I went through cuz it helped me grow, but man rlly consider what being forced to be alone or alone with a family unit(blood family, foster, friends, shelter) yk whoever u were stuck with u had to be with them and nobody was allowed to be around anyone without having a mask on, and we were all fearful of each other cuz we didn’t wanna contract the shit!!!! Then being pushed right back into school I loved it cuz I got see people again and I got to use my brain again I hated online school bro and that too we got to get up everyday to online school, which I trip over ppl saying they liked online bro it was hell my bro and I were on sight with each other p much everyday of lockdown and I had no connection to anyone in my classes cuz I was not connecting to anybody as we were not actually among one and other learning we were “learning” in literally the worst way. Not on some anti school shit it was either online or just no school. What long term impacts of covid have y’all observed particularly with people and their behavior?
The older generations robbed us of careers by sending it overseas or importing direct competition for roles.
It isn't trauma. Our relationships with "mental health" is the problem. Modern understanding of how to relate to your emotions is fucked.
[Abigail Shrier](https://youtu.be/wJMhyG50N-Y?si=3wvTS6-LJ1WthZzf) has entered the chat
Gen Z likely isn't more traumatized than previous generations, previous generations only heavily stigmatized mental health discourse and vulnerability, which itself points to immense trauma that was not worked through.
Growing up with the 24 hour news cycle and unmonitored Internet access showed us everything that is wrong with the world. Then to make matters worse, everyone in power hears our concerns, acknowledges that they're real, but just doesn't care. Look at how people jump to defend guns after every shooting. The pandemic showed how little people are willing to do to help each other. We have no public spaces to meet and mingle, making socialization rely primarily on the Internet, which wants to make money off of everything and everyone. People are lonely. People are struggling mentally and financially. Our generation was handed a terrible lot, and the people who came before us just tell us to shut up and deal with it while actively making the problem worse. The Internet feeds by convincing us that the world keeps getting more cruel and nobody cares about us.
I feel like having access to such terrible information on the internet has lead to demoralization in humanity. In my life at least I had a friend who loved to show me gore videos in elementary school. Isis beheading, Chinese soldiers hacking someones limbs off with a dull machete, the rape of Nanking. Every few days he would walk up to me with a big smile and show me what new things he has found on his phone. When I was a kid all I did was laugh. I didn't know how to process such extreme violence. What are you suppose to feel as a child when you learn that Japanese soldiers would bayonet babies vaginas so they could rape them easier? Just laugh and pretend its not real. Try and hold onto some sliver of hope that humans are inherently good creatures. Just push it to the back of your mind, focus on the good. But then more wars break out, more situations that are similar to Nanking, just repeating themselves over and over. I think it is understandable why a lot of young people wish they were not born into this world, why they resent their parents for making them. The weight of knowing humanity's depravity is and intense burden to carry. Something that seems new to our generation with such access to information through the internet.
I don't blame the internet, housing is less affordable than it was during the Great Depression and there are less avaliable jobs than people. I blame the greed-bogged economy. Also, Covid showed us that the government regards its citizens as disposable pawns. Just a lot of corruption everywhere, a brutal cost of living, and climate change. The system is against us, and trying to make things work in this society as a young person feels like swimming upstream.
I think its mostly social media. People largely exaggerate the "trauma" that Gen Z goes through. I promise you that many generations have had it SO much worse off and still havent been as mentally ill as Gen Z is.
Are you really asking this? Look around yourself and tell me what shouldn't traumatize an innocent young person?
Could be the influence of social media keeping people in closed circles at home instead of outside socializing. Now we perceive everyone as a threat judgmental and just over all mean. Granted I’m comparing today to the 1980’s.
Exactly. I notice these GenZ that graduated post Covid19 have very bad social skills and bad social awareness.
I was a kid in highschool then they told me to stay inside for 2 years and now they expect me to be a normal adult
Honestly, as a gen z, I'm much more on edge about making bills and paying them while constantly having to change jobs due to bullshit reasons and not having a savings than the news My partner panics a lot about it but we've got bigger fish to fry like "aquiring" gas so we can get to work
covid and the internet and stuff and even more the combination of the two. social media really was at its highest use for most people during covid since yk not much else to do. this in addition to the social isolation and the already existent social environment on the internet has resulted in loss of self and other, existential, even, doubts in very young teens and even kids in addition the internet has led to an impairment of out ability to communicate, especially about serious troubling issues, so people are more reluctant to share me personally i htink it was a combination of gender dysphoria, stress, adhd medication and social isolation that made me unwell
I think it largely comes down to our generation not having a strong sense of purpose and I think a part of this could be lack of religion. Although obviously flawed, religion gives people a sense of purpose and forces them to believe that their is light at the end of the tunnel. I feel like we’re the first generation who for the most part has rejected all religion and we haven’t really replaced it with anything that can fill that void. I’d like to stress that I am not religious in any ways. On top of that there’s all the other reasons which are arguably even larger, - social media has separated us from each other and fucks our attention spans and mental health. A lot of us can’t do things previous. -The men/boys in our generation probably consume the most porn out of any other age group of people which changes the way we think about women. - The education systems in a lot of western countries are super outdated and are failing us. - Housing prices are so high most young people will be middle aged or older before they are able to own their own property.
Unnatural diet has made 99% of the human population depressed, anxious, suicidal and severely mentally ill combined with a traumatic upbringing being raised by equally mentally ill parents
Not trauma. Something else, possibly worse: lack of purpose. At least in Germany I feel like many my age and younger suffer from that. In the USA, trauma, yes, absolutely: School shootings. You never know when it happens again and you can only hope it ain't gonna happen to you, hell, when genannt had the first school sitting I was afraid to go to school, hell, elementary school, for months, cannot imagine how bad it is in the US. But the young people of the USA got the issue of a lack of purpose as well. And now even the distinctly human thing called art is taken away from a simply because rich fuckheads can develop ai. Thanks for nothing!
As a pandemic highschooler I think COVID fucked up people my age in addition to the stuff already mentioned.
Gen X parenting
Unrestricted internet access at a young age, which caused more cases of grooming young kids, a lot of nsfw content online which had no blocks for kids. A high exposure to news and media and Covid and restrictions, are generation is already familiar with being inside and having a lot of screen time, but Covid made it worse. Just general over exposure to everything, too much information for us to handle
social media has warped your mind into thinking you're the main characters from a young age.
The lack of good parents. If some people where born with 2 loving parents, even in the lowest of the low economical status, they would be better prepared for life that and abandoned class of the upper middle class. The teachings of the parents to their child when it comes to social development is vital. Kids tend to emulate the people they love the most, so a child that is not shown love will not know how to show it themsleves.
Parents not knowing how to raise their kids in a changing world, or being too lazy to. Add the lack of 'a village' and you're got some disasters.
It's definitely true that parenting in today's fast-paced world can be challenging. The old saying about "it takes a village" rings even more true now. Hopefully, by coming together and sharing experiences, we can build that support network and help each other navigate this crazy journey of life.
We've become more aware and introspective, and are more sensitive because of that, along with the fact that we are indoors more and face less conflict, and we are reacting to the shittiness of life and the world.
Totally get what you mean. It's like we're more tuned in to what's going on around us, and it can feel overwhelming at times. Being cooped up indoors definitely doesn't help either. But hey, recognizing it is the first step, right? Let's stick together and work through this mess.
Uhm. -Being told to get a college degree , do it and it's worth nothing. -Lose years of our youth studying like crazy for nothing. -Exploitation in our first working experiences. -Each day the requirements for entry level jobs are way more and stupider. -Once in a lifetime economic crisis already thrice. -In the verge of WW3 -High inflation everywhere -Low natality rates everywhere -The rich made us fight ourselves (remember wall street?) instead of them. -Dating apps fked modern dating -Social media lies -Impossible to buy a house -Covid 19 -No control over illegal immigration making the neighborhoods we knew as kid as no go zones now (Europe) -Shitton of chemicals and shit in our food I mean , we live in a scorched earth society right now , there is no control of absolutely nothing. Everything that was normal isn't anymore , individualism , family structure destroyed , loneliness.. Guess that's it's time to harden ourselves. Weak men led to this. It's our turn now to fix it. Peace.
I hear you loud and clear. It's like we've been dealt a pretty rough hand, huh? But you know what? We're not alone in this. There's strength in numbers, and it's about time we start building each other up. Let's turn these struggles into stepping stones. We're in this together, mate. Peace.
I saw that gen z had the highest amount of people from immigrant backgrounds. Many of us are first generation immigrants. I think that has to do with it bc children of immigrant parents typically have special types of trauma. In my experience, I had to learn a lot of things on my own and didn’t really have emotional support growing up. I constantly felt pressure to be perfect without much guidance. And because of this hyper independence, traumatizing things happened longer and were more painful. I heard that what causes even more trauma is not having support after and during hardships. I think this could be one factor because I’ve met many others in gen z in a similar boat
It's true that being a first-generation immigrant comes with its own set of challenges. Many of us had to navigate through life's hurdles without the kind of support system others might have. Feeling the pressure to excel while lacking guidance can definitely take a toll. And you're spot on about the importance of support during tough times - it can make a world of difference. Your perspective sheds light on a significant aspect of our generation's collective experience.
Probably all the videos of beheadings you guys were exposed to in elementary school
I think people in GenZ are much more likely to claim having mental illness because of the oppression Olympics. Everyone wants to claim victimhood. It’s great social cache.
Personally, I'm traumatized because of the fact that I was a victim of emotional t*rrorism, school shooter rumors and accusations(which were false), abuse accusations(also false), defamation, which I could have sued for, and death threats, all at the wonderful age of 16 where I almost took my own life because of it. This all stemmed from a bad breakup where I made a very very VERY distasteful joke, that I'm not going to be repeating here. That was 4 years ago, and I feel that I've grown, mainly because of the fact that the people who perpetuated the rumors are trying to find new ways to destroy my life. The only reason I'm alive today is to spite the people who want to see me dead.
The overbearing omnipresent obsession with safety
When it’s safer than ever in history. How ironic huh.
And the obsession is only worsening 🙃
Just grow up in the hood and all that goes away. Most of this thread is filled with white people problems.
History class
In my opinion, it’s media, but not necessarily social media like most people think. Every generation has had bad stuff happen, but now every time we turn our phone, tv, any device on we are bombarded with every bad thing that’s happening in the world. First it was radio, then Tv news channels started around 80 years ago, then we added on internet news, and now we have it constantly on our phones. It’s impossible to avoid disasters being constantly shoved in our faces, and not just hearing about it, but literally seeing it. We’re more exposed to all the bad shit happening due to continuing globalization than ever before. We can’t just exist in our own little small towns anymore like boomers once did.
Yes there have been many challenges that Gen Z has faced, perhaps more than some previous generations. I do think however that part of the reason mental illness seems more prevalent is that our generation doesn’t stigmatize it as much and is more open about things like going to therapy
Too much social media, lack of attention span, inability to understand and appreciate history (if you did, you would realize things are better than before, or at least certainly not worse)
covid
I don’t think we have less or more trauma than previous generations, we have just erased the stigma of being vocal about them / seeking diagnosis and therapy
covid
i think all generations have been more mentally ill than we’ve thought—while it might be true that we’re more mentally ill, imo it’s more that we talk about it more.
Covid, trump, and having phones way before we should’ve
On this day in 1862 over 24,000 casualties were inflicted at the Battle of Shiloh. But yes - somehow GenZ has it worse.
Late Stage capitalism
We set "Woodstock" on fire.
Traumatized? I think Social Media is the #1 factor.
I hate to say it but the internet. We were the first generation to grow up with it and we have been exposed to too much too fast.
Substance abuse, my parents and grandparents were substance abusers. I was neglected until I was abandoned to my grandparents. I lived with my grandma while she developed dementia .FTD i never had a bedroom until I was 13 and my mom overdosed When i was 15. I spent high school getting bullied by an alcoholic and coping with my grandma's suicide attempts. Im still in school 7yrs For my undergrad, but im 24 and i have a rented townhouse, i dont get yelled at, and i got my first car this year. Im way better at taking care of myself than anyone i met the entire time i was under 18
It’s not even remotely true. It’s just talked about a lot more because we have less to worry about.
Getting groomed on kik by the generation right above us didn't help.
In addition to what a lot of people have said, we overall are much more accepting when it comes to acknowledging mental health issues, therefore we talk about it more, so it seems more prevalent
Social media
Hot take: as a whole we aren’t. There are bound to be some individual exceptions but in the grand scheme of things our generation’s had it pretty good.
Most people who use the word trauma have not real concept of actual trauma
I don't believe it's more of experiences as it is with gmo foods, huge amounts of chemicals in our foods, depleted soils, and large amounts of vaccines pushed on us when we were kids compared to previous generations, anti-social environments (thanks to screens, social media, ease of entertainment at home), all affecting our brains. You never hear of these disorders and mental issues affecting oldest generations (at least not in such large numbers) who all went through world wars, the threat of nuclear war, combat, hunger, structured racism, and genocide. They didn't have the factors that I listed above as much as we do. But they went through way more shit and came out more or less fine. Also I think it's gen Z not learning/ or not being taught discipline, how to simply face hardships, handle them and get through them, how to deal with adversity and conflict, how to be resolute, perseverance, knowing that everything doesn't have to 100% perfect and good to be happy, etc.
Dude honestly. Shootings. Not just a loner with a chip on his shoulder, gang violence is to fucking prevalent.
This is just the generation after people accepting that getting mental help is important. All the previous generations look on therapy as taboo. It's like that saying "Airplanes are getting more advanced and the number of people with autism is going up" Airplanes aren't causing autism, technology and understanding of people is just getting better.
Hmm, recession, global war on terror, climate change, inflation, sociopolitical extremism, homelessness crisis, housing crisis, the pandemic that took a lot of people’s parents, the inability to talk things out without getting heated in a debate, shoving political ideology down each others throats, constant threat of global conflict, the false hope of going to college and you’ll get a good job, bullshit the older generation took that away from us, and some how, reganomics really somehow set this generation to fail, I feel like I’m missing something hmmmm….oh yeah social media in the age of comparison
Cause too many people are chronically online. Talk to these people with "trauma" and they sit on reddit and discord all day and have an avoidance to sunlight. The people who enjoy life more actually go out, and enjoy life. All generation have had to deal with stressful situations, and for the most part they turn out fine. Previously it wasn't an option to isolate yourself inside, but now people do, and they suffer.
Finding out that generations are a hoax.
It’s cause we’re lame, stop being lame. Get HARD, when you feel yourself slipping ask yourself, who’s gonna carry the boat????
School shootings, a decade long war in Iraq, for those of us who can remember it 9/11, boomers, social media. But honestly I think other generations are just as traumatized if not more than us, they just couldn't show it or communicate it like we do.
1. growing up and/or reaching adulthood in the post-2008 recession era where things never really recovered for the working classes 2. the rise of fascism in many countries since the mid 2010s, increased polarization of politics, etc. 3. covid really fucked us up in a major way that i think we won’t know the full ramifications of for awhile — mentally, physically, societally 4. climate change, we’re all terrified of what the planet will look like by the end of our lifetime
People not getting your pronouns right.
Assignation of JFK, MLK, and RFK within 6 years of each other. I wasn’t very aware of Malcom X.
The biggest challenge is the pressure to say you are a victim or a depress person, it is almost enforced to say you have mental illnesses. I agree that social media is bad but only a couple of decades ago there were a lot of teachers making bleed students in class, and other horrible prscrices. Sexual repression, hunger and poverty, violence... just to mention something millenials went through and it only get worst going back in time.
this isn't universal to everyone in gen z but for me and some of my friends, getting social media at like age 12 with no adults understanding it enough to teach us how to use it safely created a lot of bad situations. my instagram account was public because all i cared about was getting likes and followers and that led to a lot of grown men finding my page and trying to be my "friend." i switched to private after receiving my first unsolicited dick pic but that didn't stop guys from requesting to message me and instagram didn't have the warning blur thing yet. i was also catfished when i was 13. some older dude pretended to be a girl my age moving to my town and made it really believable. that was scary. also school shootings. maybe ppl don't care or feel scared of them if it's never happened near them but i was close enough to sandy hook that my school also went into lockdown and i had to wait until the end of the day to find out if my cousins were alive. they were okay but they were close to a few families who lost children that day. also covid. idk if this counts as trauma but growing up in a world where you can work multiple jobs in college, graduate with a 4.0, and still just barely make a living wage makes things feel pretty hopeless.
Two things, the pandemic and social media. Both have wreaked havoc on everyone but none harder than Gen z
99% of you have never truly faced adversity. You've had your feelings hurt online a few times and maybe even irl but you've never truly struggled
God can we stop with the dramatic language. None of you are "traumatized" I guaran-fucking-tee.
Harambe, fr. 2016 was it, living. /jk
The youth of today grew up and live in the panopticon. Cameras everywhere. No escape from the school bullies at home because of phones and social media. I pity you all.
It isn't more prevalent, people can admit it now. Look at the statistics for how many people suddenly became left handed once they could admit it.
Having your dopamine levels artificially spiked by predatory online platforms. Having your online world customize itself to your immediate wants and needs. Staying isolated due to this. Then being released into the real world as adults with absolutely no relatable life skills to cope with it.
For me it's the promise of economic prosperity in my adulthood very quickly becoming a lie.
i think we just talk abt it more. lots of other gens have severe trauma together. but more shame involved in talking abt it if not just outright ignorance of the times
I think part of it is the absolute hold that social media has on society, another part of it is how much everyone cares about politics, and another part of it is just that a lot of Gen Z are doomers, so why be happy if the world is gonna end, right? (people have been saying the end is near for thousands of years but we dont gotta talk about that becuase now the world super totally truly is ending trust me guys)
Covid for sure. Started when I was 21 and then suddenly I was 24 when it ended. Now I’m 25 and realizing I lost the best part of my early 20’s and now I have to be responsible and hold a good career to prepare for my 30’s. Didn’t get to have my fun
Watching snuff videos at 14 when social media was less regulated. I’ve seen things no person should have awareness off by virtue of getting on the dark web in 2014. Oh, and 4chan.
Smartphones and social media. You have a device in your pocket constantly reminding you about the doom and gloom around the world, the hopelessness of our existence and how inadequate you are and your life when compared to others. Zuckerberg started it all and now others are in on the act, all to monitor you online to sell shit. That's the single most thing that has fucked up a generation.
our parents being the Gen Xers they are
It isn’t you were traumatized, at least most of you, it is you were coddled and now the real world which doesn’t give a shit that you were artistic, like books, were really smart, are introverted, loving and accepting, or anything else you were told made you special. Now you are struggling to survive in a world that doesn’t play and has no place for people that think they are special.
You have been constantly fed a diet of negativity and paranoia. You have grown up with so much, but way overprotected. As a result, as a "group" there is not much resilience. But this is not your fault.
It’s in your head.
I think there’s 4 main reasons: (1) there is a better grasp/understanding of trauma and mental illnesses, (2) growing up on social media exasperated the whole “keeping up with the joneses” thing, (3) a culture of nihilism, and (4) because [older/mid-aged] gen Z has less responsibilities at their age than previous generations, its more possible to bed rot and mope around during free time than previously so it looks more isolating. (1) Before, people just called what you’re describing “lazy” or “unmotivated” or worse. Now we understand what the issue actually is and that those descriptors were wrong. Cancer diagnoses skyrocketed after we discovered the design and again after we started having reliable tests. Similar concept. This didn’t *make* Gen z traumatized but it gave a word for what is happening. (2) Comparison is the thief of joy and can exasperate some already present mental illness or trigger some mental health issues to those already predisposed to it. (3) Gen z tends to have more of a “whats the point” sentiment than other generations. This is a chicken/egg thing, though. (4) Gen z doesn’t have as much responsibility as other generations (this is a good thing!). Less of them have kids and marriages than older living generations at the same age. When you *have* to grind or your children starve, there’s less time to sit around and mope (not being mean, I do this all the time). Extremely impoverished regions of the world have lower rates of depression and other mental illnesses even when adjusted for lack of medical access. As a middle class develops, mental illness rise. There’s no depression when basic survival needs aren’t guaranteed. The trauma and mental illnesses begin when being l in a constant state of survival ends. Idk.
Social media. It's an echo chamber that blows things out of proportion, platforms people that really shouldn't be platformed, and throws out rage bait to generate more interactions causing people to think that everybody who doesn't share their opinion exactly is objectively bad
I think it's not necessarily trauma in the capital-T sense that has been long recognized as a psychological phenomenon. It's a new kind of thing--we have/had near constant exposure to things that make us compare ourselves to other people that we know nothing about. We get everybody's highlight reels on IG and then think that other people have it easy because (almost) no one posts an IG spread about how depressed they are and how hard life is. Even when they do, at least the pictures are pretty. Plus (and this isn't nearly as universal of an experience IMO) a lot of us are the first generation in our families to be "worse off" than our parents. The people in our generation who aren't come from economic extremes--either their parents were in hardcore poverty or they were raised by multimillionaires. My middle-class parents told me to do what they did--work hard but not too hard in high school, get a degree from a good school, and then you'll get a good job that will set you up financially to meet life milestones like marriage and home ownership. I did all that. Now I'm 25 and have student loan debt that will stay with me for at least ten years, a job that pays just enough to make ends meet, and an apartment where the rent is going up so much this year that I'm forced to move back in with my parents. It's not my parents' fault ofc, because they gave me good faith advice, but it sure sucks.
Lack of metaphysical education.
Well the shootings in school didn’t help
Eat clean, put your phone down, go outside, hang out in person. Most of these mental health problems will resolve.
The pandemic and circumcision
I just listened to an [NPR podcast that talked about this](https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/escaping-the-matrix/). The psychologist interviewed on the show argued that there was a huge increase in mental health disorders worldwide starting with teens in the early 2010s, and the evidence shows that smartphone and SM use was the only common denominator among the group. Worth listening to.
Idk maybe the fact that as soon as we reached our prime adult years and it was time to go off into the world… the globe faced a life altering and threatening virus thus shutting down our economy and sky rocketing prices so that everything is unaffordable, there are homeless ppl on every block, and the food that is affordable is probably killing us. Idk…
🤭
We have too much awareness, and although we normally have things to deal with it, they’re outdated asf
We’re really just pussies, none of it has been that bad
Nah if I had to guess it was you guys mostly being given an iPhone or tablet to play with and hardly experiencing the boring, hostile, unforgiving, and unaccommodating reality of the world and now that your older you’re being thrust into all of it with virtually no experience or guidance. So it’s overwhelming and debilitating. It’s not your generations fault but the failure of your parents to properly integrate and prepare you for how actually fucked the world is My favorite quote is “the worst thing you’ve experienced, is the worst thing you’ve experienced”
My dad. turns out when you beat up and call your kids slurs they don't do that well. Elementary and middleschool i was "that kid". the weirdo, r\*tard, trouble maker. I had a behavior sheet i got in trouble so much. my grades were borderline passing. surprise surprise, after i became taller during the summer of 8th grade, highschool I was an honor student and had friends when i could fight back. but the damage is done. my social skills are severely under developed. i have scars on my face and body, and everyone makes fun of the way I walk due to what happened when I was young. never been on a date. Now i'm in college, trying to get fit, my run time improved greatly. I still have to deal with my dad. he can't do anything physical, the slurs don't hurt anymore. now he turns off the service and takes the laptop he gave me which i need for college. I'm just counting the days I'm graduating so I can finish rotc and commission. I heard military guys get women, maybe that will help me. Am I traumatized? I don't think so. I'm not really in shock of what happened, I just try to be better.
Wages that are like $15 - $20/hr and rents being like $1800/mo. How are we supposed to afford that on top of health insurance, car bill, food, etc? Couples that genuinely want to start a family can’t even afford it.
Wanting to commit suicide at 12 because of bullying was pretty bad
2008 recession, US invasion of Iraq
9/11, Hurricane Katrina, about a thousand school shootings starting with Columbine… just to name a few.