Poll Position: Mental Health
By Kyra Clement
The past two years have taken a toll on the majority of people’s mental health. With their formative years coinciding with a deadly global pandemic, it is no surprise that Gen Z appear to have it worse than previous generations. So we thought we’d check in with our Gen Z collective to see how they’re doing. Here’s what we found…
89% of collective admitted to struggling with their mental health in some capacity, with the most common battles being with social anxiety post pandemic, stress and depression. Gen Z appear to be comfortable confessing this and keen to open a conversation around what was once considered a taboo subject.
We’re only 6 weeks in and 86% of our collective have already had a cry (me included).
We’ve noticed a huge generational difference in Gen Z’s approach to expressing emotion. Only 5% of our collective have ever seen their father’s cry. Despite parents being the providers of behavioural cues, it seems that Gen Z are more influenced by their peers, who appear to be encouraging of expressing emotion.
This comfort expressing themselves has sometimes been referred to as oversensitivity. However, 71% of them disagree, and see this as being more in tune with their emotions.
Unsurprisingly, the majority of our collective feel more negative after using social media. They told us that apps like instagram encouraged comparison between themselves and their peers and celebrities.
Despite the majority of our collective feeling as though they could open up to their friends, almost 1/3 could not. Other popular support networks included: therapists, romantic partners, parents, siblings and pets.