Millennial Mental Health: A Generation of Trauma

Millennials have lived through more traumatic events within their relatively short time on this planet than any generation before them.

In case you’re confused: millennials are the rad group of people who were born between the late 1970s and approximately 1994/5.

A generation that has given us incredible technological advances.

A generation that continues the fight for inclusiveness and equality.

Millennials have been fortunate enough to live through some pretty amazing times.

But when we look at how many significant events Millennials have lived through in their 30-40 years in comparison to when their parents were their age, we find they have experienced an unprecedented number of traumatic events within that time period.

Let’s take a look back at history.

• The Challenger explosion (1986), the beginning of the Gulf War (1990), the bombing in Oklahoma City (1995), a mass shooting at Columbine High School (1999), the attack on the World Trade Center & the Pentagon (9/11/01), the war in Afghanistan, the war in Iraq, an economic recession, another war in Syria…

Not to mention the assault on women’s reproductive rights & paramount shifts in the political arena never before seen.

And now we find ourselves living through another war in Ukraine.

Every event mentioned above, in addition to every event in between, has led to great change, both domestically & globally.

Political change, cultural change, economic change…have I mentioned climate change?

But there’s one change we don’t discuss.

The change in our mental health.

It’s impossible to live through all of this and not be affected psychologically.

Seeing so many images of war, mass destruction, human lives being taken.

Being inundated with life changing, traumatic information, over and over again.

Statistics show only 48% of millennials self report their mental health to be “good or excellent.”

Since 2013, millennials have seen a 47% increase in the diagnosis of major depressive disorders.

This means more millennials are feeling hopeless, helpless, profound sadness and possibly even that their life is not worth living.

THIS. IS. A. BIG. DEAL.

If we don’t start taking millennial mental health seriously, we will only continue to have more difficulty maintaining a healthy living environment for everyone on this planet.

Every domestic or global concern on our plates will only become that much more difficult to process.

Unresolved trauma = a giant shitstorm.

It’s time we recognize the emotional well-being of our millennials: the generation that has pioneered many of the amazing inventions that are essential to making our world a healthier, happier place.

Commit to raising awareness of #millennialmentalhealth.

*If you’re a millennial struggling with your mental health, please reach out to a therapist local to your area. Or you can call 1-800-273-8255.