The State of Gen Z’s Mental Health during COVID-19
The American Psychological Association (APA) just released the results of their annual survey, Stress in America, which tracks the sources and intensity of stressors, as well as people’s mental and physical responses to these stressors. The survey was conducted between Aug. 4 and Aug. 26, 2020, among 3,409 adults age 18+ who reside in the U.S.
Not surprisingly, the Stress in America 2020 results show what we all probably intuitively feel:
Americans’ mental health is taking a significant hit due to the COVID-19 pandemic, along with stressors related to health care, the economy, and the intensified racial and political discord in our nation.
The American Psychological Association is declaring a National Mental Health Crisis.
As someone devoted to the mental health and well-being of Gen Z, here’s what caught my attention:
“The potential long-term consequences of the persistent stress and trauma created by the pandemic are particularly serious for our country’s youngest individuals, known as Generation Z (Gen Z). Our 2020 survey shows that Gen Z teens (ages 13-17) and Gen Z adults (ages 18-23) are facing unprecedented uncertainty, are experiencing elevated stress and are already reporting symptoms of depression.”
Now, over the past decade or so, many people working with young people have noted the disturbing trend of increasing mental health issues for our youngest and brightest minds. I, personally, have seen a significant shift in the degree and nature of mental health struggles for adolescents in treatment. It’s disturbing, yes. Schools and colleges have been frantically trying to attend to these issues with school-based social-emotional learning and well-being programming, increased mental health support, and creative peer-driven programs.
And despite our nation spending billions of dollars on pharmaceutical drugs for mental health disorders (approximately 26 billion in 2019 including drugs for ADHD, and another 1.8 billion for substance use prescriptions), mental health and substance use funding by the National Institutes for Health (around 2.7 billion and 1.64 billion, in 2017, respectively) and other related health care costs (billions more in public and private spending on mental health and substance use disorder treatments)-- Americans seem to be getting worse, not better.
We had a mental health crisis BEFORE the pandemic.
The future of this generation is in our hands: I believe it’s ultimately OUR responsibility to provide the resources, skills, and support to help them get stronger through this crisis.
It’s also our responsibility to thoughtfully and effectively tackle the very sources of stress that plague our children: climate change, social media, gun violence, racism, sexism, political extremism, addiction, increased social isolation (even before the pandemic), access to quality health care, the economy, student loan debt, and on and on. We have a long way to go.
You can read the full report here, but here are some of the findings I want to highlight:
Nearly 1 in 5 adults (19%) say their mental health is worse than it was at this time last year. By generation, 34% of Gen Z adults report worse mental health, followed by Gen X (21%), millennials (19%), boomers (12%) and older adults (8%).
Gen Z adults are the most likely to report experiencing common symptoms of depression, with more than 7 in 10 noting that in the prior two weeks they felt so tired that they sat around and did nothing (75%), felt very restless (74%), found it hard to think properly or concentrate (73%), felt lonely (73%), or felt miserable or unhappy (71%).
Gen Z teens (13-17) and Gen Z adults (18-23) report that school closures and other changes to school are having a negative impact on their ability to plan for the future.
Most Gen Z adults in college (87%) report education is a significant source of stress in their lives.
More than 8 in 10 Gen Z adults (82%) report they are not getting the emotional support they need.
More than 2 in 5 Gen Z teens (43%) say the level of stress in their life has increased over the past year.
Nearly 8 in 10 Gen Z adults (79%) say the future of our nation is a significant source of stress in their life. And while 2 in 3 Gen Z adults (67%) say the 2020 U.S. presidential election is a source of stress, only 64% say they intend to vote in the election (compared with 71% of millennials, 79% of Gen X, 86% of boomers and 90% of older adults who intend to vote).
And if you’re a parent who has been struggling to get through 2020, know that you are NOT ALONE.
“Parents are bearing an enormous burden during the pandemic. ... Given the wide-reaching disruption for this part of the population, it may not be surprising to see that parents, on average, report a higher level of stress during the past month than those who are not parents (5.4 vs. 4.7). ... 7 in 10 parents (70%) say family responsibilities are a significant source of stress in their life. ... Two in 3 parents of older teens ages 15–17 (67%) say the coronavirus pandemic made the 2019-20 school year extremely stressful for them personally, and a similar proportion (67%) say it has severely disrupted their child(ren)’s plans for the future.”
If you’re reading this far, I’m betting you care about our children as much as I do. While the report gives some helpful suggestions on how to support Gen Z (and I recommend you read those), I want to stress that one of the most important things you can do as a parent (or caring adult in the life of a young person), is to take care of yourself. When we’re drowning in our own stress, anxiety, depression, relational conflicts, or addictions, we are definitely not in a strong enough place to help others.
So, please, if you take nothing away from this writing: seek support if you need it.
Our children—and our children’s children—depend on us being well.
I’ll close on a positive note. Perhaps we can chalk it up to the American spirit, but despite all the concerning trends in this report, one bright point stood out: Americans remain hopeful.
“Around 7 in 10 (71%) say they feel hopeful about their future. By generation, millennials (76%) are the most likely to agree with this sentiment, followed by boomers (72%), Gen X (71%), older adults (69%), and Gen Z adults (64%). Further, more than half of Americans (54%) say they feel they can use their voice to make a difference in the world.”
As long as we have personal agency and a voice, we can positively impact the future for Gen Z.
