Millennials, the driving force of the world, from running your favourite café to running the largest social media (FACEBOOK), are making the world more happening every day than yesterday. While the globe is getting warmer, millennials are making our world only cooler. Social media influencers and YouTubers are the new age stars. While baby boomers wrote love letters,, millennials are finding matches on Tinder. They have built a world within the world, the virtual world, and it’s only getting bigger. Even the lockdown isn’t as boring. From making Dalgona coffee or guessing gibberishes on Instagram to standing up for Dehing Patkai and Dibang Valley, millennials are the loudest voices heard. They are the trendsetters and the world changers. Millennials own the world. But if millennials are running such a great world, the question is why at the same time millennials are the majority victims of suicides, depression, anxiety, and abuses?
So, who are millennials? Let us define millennials in terms of age group. Those who first cried between 1981 and 1996 (sometimes also considered to be 2000) are called millennials. In other words, if you found a little humour in my last sentence then you are probably a millennial. And if you didn’t, go check some Instagram bios. And those who are #millennials, be proud as you fall in the category of major economic contributors in the global economy, a high potential economic developer. Or be a little worried as you also fall in the group of most vulnerable ones to become victims of anxiety, stress, depression, and many mental health-related disorders/problems or symptoms.
When a lot of millennials are at the forefront of making this era of millennials what it is, that is, the creators, many are using these creations and giving them a push, providing them with speed. That is, Zuckerberg is a millennial of the former kind and the billions of millennials who are active users of FACEBOOK are of the latter kind. A lot of the services millennials use in daily life were started to ease human life. But when something runs after economic value it also creates problems of a new kind. The best example being social media that was supposed to connect us while being miles apart is giving rise to controversies like ‘boys locker room’ and the biggest online conflict ‘Tik Tok vs YouTube’. Social Media bullying is also considered to be the reason behind the suicide of ‘Hana Kimura’, the 22 year old female professional wrestler from Japan.
But, why is it so that millennials are the change-makers of the society and also the troubled ones with never-ending series of problems in their lives? Be it personal problems like divorce or health problems like sleeplessness, anxiety, and much more to list down. Millennials top the list of age groups when it comes to mental depression.
One thing to put focus on is, when we consider millennials, we focus on entrepreneurs, social activists, successful YouTubers, and other social media figures, but unfortunately, we forget to count in ourselves. Yes, you and I, the average millennial of the society who are hustling/struggling to make their presence count, to pay the next bill for house rent, pay the next EMI for the vehicle/car, and to manage the flight cost once-or-twice a month to visit home as most of us are a thousand miles away from our loved ones. And this is where we have become the victims of globalization working 12-24 hours a day to produce economic value to meet our paycheques and bill for everything that surrounds our lives, from our Netflix subscription to the beloved space called ‘HOUSE’ (I am not calling it home because HOME is where your heart is, might be a roofless night camp in the woods, a tiny DIY bus-house project or that old house where your parents long for you every weekend).
The economic stress and workload often seem to hamper the ‘mental health’ as well. With the scarcity of jobs and with ‘more is better’ concept, we millennial work long hours, buy more stuff to feel the happiness of owning more, pay more for luxury which results in debts, burnouts, sense of despair, and a feeling of vacancy. There is a shortlist named “Forbes 30 before 30” which makes a long list of “Depressed before 30”. The social pressure to achieve more is something millennials have suffered from school days. And depression is a problem that creates a chain of problems, from losing your job to getting a divorce and so on. One term, “depression”, can interconnect all your problems. And though millennials are the most open in speaking up, one out of five major depressed individuals does not seek help in the US alone. Millennials also account for majority suicides with roots in mental health and depression.
And then comes the 2nd problem or the problem creator, lack of patience. Yes, an average millennial suffers to keep patience and calmness. This problem has a lot to do with our lifestyle which, as we discussed above, is full of options. From the restaurant you want to visit for dinner to the device you want to read this blog on, you are always surrounded with better options to have a better experience every single second. Any disruption is not expected as we know better options are waiting for you to explore. So a week’s poor internet connectivity may lead you to change your network provider or change your favorite restaurant due to minor traffic disruptions. The availability of better than the best has exploited us as consumers. And our need for entertainment keeps on changing every 15 seconds as we surf through social media stories. We need “new” very frequently which ultimately affects our calmness in the long run. Options are excellent to have better in everything. But as the old ones have said, too much of anything is dangerous.
We millennials suffer exploitation in the name of competition. From competing to get a higher paycheque by working longer hours to getting the latest ‘Sony Xperia 1 ii’ to have the best smartphone camera experience, we millennials are in a battle where we do not have the option to leave the battleground, but to make the battleground a better place to live in. We have witnessed millennials like Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, The Minimalists, who broke the loop of ‘work-paycheque-bills’ and are helping more than 20 million people to live meaningful lives with less. Because “Less is More” (peaceful).
Note: My dear friend, you have achieved more than millions out there. So take a moment and cheer yourself. Any negative thoughts, consult your nearest millennial because we care.