Over 60 percent of Gen Z have an anxiety disorder
Story at a glance Data management firm Harmony Healthcare IT recently released a report on the state of Gen Zers mental health. As part of the report, the firm conducted a survey on Gen Zers…
The most common cause of their anxiety — the future.
Completely reasonable. I'm a Millenial and I also have a lot of anxiety about the future. Previous generations screwed us all really hard.
GenXer here. What drives me nuts is that climate change was taught to me as scientific fact in year 9, back in the early 80s.
The science was clear but collectively every government said "well, I'll be dead by then so why should we care now".
Millennial checking in. School system pivoted to Acid Rain and deforestation as the main environmental we would face. Oh, and El Nino, seems like that was happening every year of my life as a kid.
We're beginning to feel same way for anyone over age 60.
Source: Below 35 y/o
Not to mention all the shit we went through already.
I can tell you (professionally) that the people who saw less anxiety during the pandemic were people with severe anxiety. Statistically.
I can tell you personally it was because we could say, "Something catastrophic finally happened and I've been preparing for this my whole life."
Juuust gonna drop this here again
@ClimateAnxietySupport https://kbin.social/m/ClimateAnxietySupport
The most common cause of their anxiety — the future.
Well this might be the content of my anxiety (what I worry about) but it sure isn't the cause (my lifestyle).
Anxiety about the future is not an anxiety disorder. If almost 2 out of 3 Gen z has anxious intrusive thoughts so bad that they cannot go to school, work, have any kind of healthy interpersonal relationships, etc then the article would have a point, but I don't think that's the case. I have more faith in the next generation than that.
I know things are bad and folks are rightly apprehensive about the future, but that is not an anxiety disorder. Anxious thoughts doesn't mean you have a disorder, it means you are alive and aware of your surroundings.
Some of this next generation will turn their distress about the future into eustress that motivates them to fix it (as long as they don't give in to defeatest takes like in this article).
Rejoice in the fact that you're living a higher quality of life than the vast majority of people ever to walk the earth.
For now.
I mean....
gestures vaguely
From everything that can be said about the current world situation, this has to be my favorite way to express it
This article is terrible. First off, where do they get 60% from?
They link to the wrong research. The research they link to is a survey of people who already have anxiety. If you look at the research of the actual survey of the whole sample, not just those with anxiety, (here), it says that 42% have a diagnosed mental health condition, which includes an anxiety disorder amongst other disorders like depression, ADHD, and so on.
90% of the diagnosed conditions (90% of 42%) is anxiety, which would mean the actual number for only anxiety would be 37.8%.
78% of those 42% (32.76%) have depression as well. So a lot of those people with anxiety also have depression.
So the actual title should be 38% of Gen Z have an anxiety disorder. Which is only a bit higher than the total population.
According to large population-based surveys, up to 33.7% of the population are affected by an anxiety disorder during their lifetime. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4610617/
Let's also not pretend that older generations arent likely wildly under diagnosed because of stigma and lack of any resources. That means Gen Z may just have a totally normal amount of anxiety.
Whilst everything else of your post is on point, the last bit is not really applicable: you can't really compare "lifetime" probability (i.e. for the age range 0 - life-expectancy) of getting something (i.e. "be affected by") with the probability of actually having something (i.e. not just be affected by it at any one point but rather being now suffering the effects from it) whilst being in a specific age range (roughly 10 - 30, a subset of the lifetime one).
It might be possible to derive the second one from the first if knowing the statistic distribution in relation to age of that disorder and the average duration of the condition, but as it stands there those 38% aren't comparable to those 33.7% as they're statistically quite different things.
That's not how mental health stuff works. People do not really develop anxiety in adulthood like that. You won't wake up one day and have suddenly developed a mental health disorder. Mental health disorders require both genetic predisposition and real-life experiences, but those experiences really only affect someone in that way before their brain is fully developed.
To be fair, we have a much better understanding of mental disorders now. Back when I was little, people basically fell under four categories (and these terms aren't my choosing, just what it was back in the early 80's): gifted, normal, slow or retarded. That was the extent of our understanding. At least based on my personal experience in an american public school system. I'm sure for older generations things were even more misunderstood.
It's also important note that people have always had mental disorders. We just didn't know it was a mental disorder. The main difference is that we know what to look for and we can diagnose the disorder and assign treatment.
If more than half of a population has it, is it really a disorder? The disordered thing is clearly our society, but rather than fix that we medicate all the people having a hard time living in such a world.
Edit: looks like this headline isn't true.
Article headline is bullshit.
Their source doesn’t say 61% of Gen Z.
It only surveyed people who already have anxiety.
So it’s 61% of gen z with anxiety have a official anxiety diagnosis from a medical professional.
Thank you, I'll update my comment!
And it's been proven that medication doesn't necessarily work. Over the years, medication has honestly messed me up more than it's ever helped me, in permanent ways.
GenX
I mean we grew up with boomer parents. Of course we are all anxious and what not, we just had a few decades to cope with it.
Why wouldn't one be anxious about impending environment crisis and inability of institutions to act quickly enough.
Because it is a slow moving event that will unfold over the next century.
It cannot be both so incredibly anxiety causing and also lacking in any urgency at the population level simultaneously.
Slow moving event? It seems you've already gotten used to quarterly news reports of wild fires, floods, cyclones, storms, drought and mass animal graves be it terrestrial or aquatic life forms. Humans are losing their homes and lives to these events routinely. There's already a term coined for such climate refugees, making all the countries nervous about the future.
I just think they lack any real issues. I grew up poor and constantly insecure. I had real issues, and it has given be perspective. I'm grateful for every day I have food and shelter. I don't have a lot of bandwidth to care about stuff which might affect people 100 years from now.
Of course I'm glad that they grew up with such privileged lives. I just wish they'd care a little more about poor people today.
Is it a disorder if most of them have it? Wouldn't that make the anxious the baseline and 40% of them are weird calmies?
It's a disorder if it affects your ability to function in society.
But maybe we need to change society so it didn't make everyone so anxious.
Is it really a disorder if it's just a normal response to circumstances?
I'm Gen X, not Gen Z, but I think it's definitely a normal response to circumstances. Retirement has gone from "something I'm going to do someday" to "suddenly on the horizon." However, my finances aren't lining up with how much I need to have to retire. (I'm not alone. I saw an article recently that said under 20% of Gen X-ers have enough saved to retire.)
I'm definitely feeling anxious about this. I don't want to be 80 and working a full time job so that I can pay my monthly bills because my bank account ran dry and the Boomers wiped out Social Security.
It's a disorder if it gets in the way of your making profits for your masters.
Common and normal and valid response doesn't mean healthy
Body temperature increase is a normal reaction to a viral infection, doesn't mean you won't die if the temperature keeps rising until you're cooked through like a ham though
Death in service of [insert country] is it's own reward! Life in failure of [insert country] is it's own damnation. /s
If someone is so addicted to social media that it caused intense mental harm then they get what they deserve.
These dopamine addicted cocaine-rats who can't stop scrolling do not have my sympathy.
Before you have a meltdown, we often hold religious followers accountable for their religion's fuckery but we never hold social media addicts for their own behavior. Dumb.
ITT: Boomers gaslighting people who have anxiety
I'm Gen X, not Gen Z, and I definitely feel like my Boomer parents pushed a "if you're having mental health problems just shut up and deal with it quietly" attitude. When I told my father that I take medicine for anxiety, he thought I should stop taking it and just "stop feeling anxious." Like there's a big Off Switch to my anxiety that I forgot to flip.
Trust me, I wish it was that easy. I'd be flipping that switch off and duct taping over it until it couldn't be turned back on. Sadly, it's not that easy.
They were born into an absolute shit show, maybe don't blame them too much.
Stop reading crisis media.
Turn off ALL notifications on your phone
Disconnect occasionally.
Or just weed. Copious amounts of weed.
I don't think putting your head in the sand makes all the world's problems go away, just makes you ignorant and less prepared to handle them.
Reading about world problems without acting on them will just give you anxiety.
Agreed. Paying attention to the local and national news is important. Ignoring the 24 hr crisis news cycle is what I’m referring to.
I know that climate change is happening, am current on recent studies discussing causes, and read about what I can do personally to help. But I don’t watch every broadcast that blame every single possible situation on it, and then continue to harp on it constantly for days on end.
It doesn't, but it's also not healthy to dwell on it all the time. People definitely need "down time" where they silence their phones and do things that they enjoy.
In no way is this a "cure" for anxiety, but it can help in many instances.
Also consider fasting for 1 day a week (32 hrs). Its quite healthy for the body, but I also find that my brain tends to lose focus on all the nebulous dominating anxieties (work, money, school, relationsips, wars, the fact that there will never be any more episodes of Stargate SG-1) and instead it focuses on what it percieves as a more pressing threat, starvation. Which you can easily rationalize away because theres food everywhere. Gives me some mental relief and clarity for a day and its a good form of self discipline
For me it's mostly related to my autism among other factors.
I do have to wonder how these figures compare to older generations and to what extent underreporting due to stigmas around mental health could be corrected for between generations.
(I hope this already comes across, but I absolutely don't mean to diminish the severity of the mental health problems faced by Gen Z or anyone else.)
I, for one, did not take your comment in a bad light. I'm in my late 40s, and most of my peers that I'm comfortable with have anxiety or some other mental health issue, myself included. I'm not sure what generation classification I fall into, but it really doesn't matter; it's not a generation specific problem. I guess I don't really have a point here. Maybe that it's a problem of the times rather than DOB. Or I'd guess 15% of people don't report.
Yeah, both my boomer parents 100% have anxiety with periods of uncontrollable panic attacks, but they refuse to acknowledge this is the case. There is definitely a stigma when talking about mental health for their generation.
but I absolutely don’t mean to diminish the severity of the mental health problems faced by Gen Z
I, for one, do
Half of y'all are just saying you have mental issues because you're in the "it's not a phase, mom" tween phase.
Don't get me wrong, 30% is still a staggering number, but 60% is just ridiculous. You're fine. Chill tf out.
Article is bullshit anyway.
Their source doesn't say 61% of Gen Z.
It only surveyed people who already have anxiety.
So it's 61% of gen z with anxiety have a official anxiety diagnosis from a medical professional.
You know a substantial number of Zoomers are not teenagers and haven't been for many years yeah?
I'm not sure why it has to be a controversial take that the first generation to grow up with unfettered internet access and subsequently the most awareness of any and every global crisis, has a disproportionately large number of people with anxiety disorders. It's not like it's all or nothing either, you can have mild-moderate anxiety and still have a diagnosable disorder
I'm actually surprised that 40% are do not have an anxiety amongst those growing up in an environment of constant marketing pressure and social pressure to compare themselves against carefully selected images of other (i.e. real me vs facebook others) all the while slowly realising they're not going to have access to the same opportunities as they're parents, will inherit a World shafted in many many different ways and in some countries are pretty much starting their adult lifes in debt slavery.
Maybe those 40% are a mix of those who can't afford to seek health and those too mentally simple to realize any of this (if you're so dumb that you "see" very little beyond your little bubble and everything that happens to you is a surprise, you're not going to be anxious about the future).
"Alright, time for you to get your own place and move out" while looking at unobtainable housing and jobs that don't cover rent/mortgages.
"Just stop wasting money on avocado toast"
/s (for avoidance of doubt)
Future and finances - both things that have been screwed for us
They couldn't even write the subheading without making a typo so yeah top quality shit here
I know an excellent therapist. In her professional opinion, she feels that other therapists and psychiatrists rush to diagnose any patient who comes to them with any type of normal worry or anxiousness about a situation that any normal person would also be worried about. It sort of like physicians who over prescribe antibiotics just because the patient insists. Just slap a label on the person and have them keep coming back for the fee. So, I do not believe the numbers are real. I feel like 60% may be diagnosed, but the number for people with the actual condition is likely much smaller.
I recently went to a therapist for a few sessions because I wanted to talk through some major life changes with an unbiased third party. I have no diagnosed anxiety disorders, but I was told in our earlier meetings that he was going to "diagnose" me with something like "adjustment reaction with anxiety" (or put another way "difficulty working through change") so that he could continue to see me. This isn't the serious anxiety disorder that many people struggle with, but would almost certainly be lumped in to the category of "anxiety disorders." This was apparently done mostly for paperwork reasons; I imagine somewhere on the backend someone might be asking why he's providing therapy to someone who "doesn't need therapy" without something entered in.
I still don't have an anxiety disorder, but that diagnosis is going to be on my chart forever unless I go through a lengthy process to purge it. I'm not saying this is the way every doctor will do things, but it might explain some of the increased prevalence of "disorders" in the population.
Older gen z here, I definitely fall into that category. Many factors have contributed to it.
...and under 40% are in denial about having one.
Stage 4 capitalism
The fact that this research was done by a for-profit IT firm using questionable methodology and is likely to be used by them as part of a pitch to investors feels pretty metastatic
This is just straight up false
In a follow-up to our initial research, we surveyed nearly 1,000 Gen Zers who struggle with anxiety to ask them about what and who causes them to have anxious thoughts.
According to our research, more than 1 in 2 struggle with anxiety daily, and 1 in 3 are taking anxiety medication to try and find relief. But some are turning to other drugs or alcohol to cope.
The set of people surveyed are ones who claimed to suffer from anxiety. Every conclusion making claims on all Gen-Z after that is going to be flawed since the pool didn't include non-anxious Z's.
It might be this has always been the case
Good thing we semi-legalized cannabis
I blame the fact that Gen Z is still very much entangled in the education system, which at present basically purpose built to stoke existential dread about future life prospects.
"If you don't do good enough now you're going to miss out on college which means you'll miss out on jobs which means you'll miss out on being able to afford a not shit standard of living which means you'll miss out on good healthcare which means..."
And then the folks getting into the professional sphere right now being told absolutely none of that was relevant to what they're expected to learn to do well professionally.
No wonder young folks have an existential dread problem, they're constantly told that their future well being relies on them performing a song and dance number perfectly for an audience who couldn't care less about anything they actually have to learn for that song and dance.
Not just that, but they'll probably do that song and dance until they're too old to go on anymore. Pretty bleak
lol who tf are these people without anxiety?
The key word is "disorder" though.
Everyone experiences anxiety from time to time, just like everyone has minor bouts of depression or invasive compulsions. Some non-disordered might even still experience them often.
Not everyone experiences these feelings pervasively to a degree it prevents them from socioeconomic success (making friends, going outside, finding and keeping a job, etc).
If the majority of people have it, wouldn't that make it the order of things and not a disorder?
If everyone has the same affliction then that's just the norm. Better questions would be centered on what is it about society that is engendering these new social norms?
But that would take real discussions, dive into politics and economics and necessitate actual actions instead of just more NeoLiberal busybody posturing. Keep kicking that can down the road boomers, it is after all, all you've ever fucking done, besides let the country devolve into dilapidation and disrepair under your watch. Institutionalized neglect, smh
Not everyone experiences these feelings pervasively to a degree it prevents them from socioeconomic success (making friends, going outside, finding and keeping a job, etc).
I know, who tf are these people?! They're like aliens to me lol
"billionaire"
Raises hand
It's not because I suffer less, or because I'm stronger or Gen Z is weaker or some other bullshit excuse.
It's because I've just had enough. All the things we're freaking out about are manmade, and we could literally stop it at anytime but we won't because the left half of the human intelligence bell curve is given equal reverence to expert opinions and data, when espousing about complex topics that they fundamentally don't understand.
Bingpot!
It’s not that I don’t care about what is happening in the world, it is that I know that for 99.999% of everything that happens and is reported in the media, nothing I can do will have any effect.
Call it what you will, but living in the local present is the key to happiness.
Adults.
If the majority of an entire generation has an anxiety disorder, it came from one of only a few places. If Millennials don't have similar anxiety rates, the most likely culprit of rampant Gen Z specific anxiety is going to be caused by the Gen X parenting style.
don't worry, pfizer has something for you. something recently patented. it's the best thing ever. just ask your doctor. they love when people do that. if you weren't paddleboarding with a golden retriever against a golden sunset already, you will be soon. at least in your own mind.
young people these days are so motivated to diagnose themselves. did you ever stop to think, maybe if you actually did go paddleboarding with your dog more, you wouldn't need anxiety medications?
Yea its probably not all the growth hormone and steroids and antibiotics in the meat, the plastic in the air and water, and the pesticides everywhere else.
Let us know when you complete that medical degree instead of just farting into the void.
already completed it long ago, and yea its the real/official one.
*according to self diagnosis
It says medically diagnosed in the article though?
According to the study "More than two in five have a diagnosed mental health condition".
I couldn't find anything cited in the references that supports the article's claims. And it's just obnoxious to use phrases like "more than two in five". Just say 40% for crying out loud.
Eh.
Anxiety is only an issue in first world nations where people have so much excess they need to come up with problems to feel bad about.
Ok boomer
I have crippling anxiety thanks to the coming climate apocalypse :)
Yep. These aren't disorders. They're normal experiences of young people.
"Normal" and "disorder" aren't mutually exclusive. Lots of people have mental illnesses, but they're still disorders.
