How Gen Z is Remagining Mental Health

Gen Z is leading a transformative shift in how society perceives and addresses mental health. Unlike previous generations, which often swept mental health struggles under the rug, today’s youth is actively breaking down and advocating for open conversations about mental health.

The easy access to social media platforms has enabled Gen Z to openly share their own experiences with mental health, normalizing these discussions in ways that were previously unimaginable in past generations. This transparency has empowered individuals to seek support without fear of judgment of their own experiences.

“Our generation is definitely making our voices heard,” Cassandra Fabi, a current sophomore student at Southwest Career and Technical Academy said. “Whenever I scroll on TikTok, there would be creators or influencers sharing their own traumatic experiences and their own mental health status, which a lot of people would comment and feel a sort of comfort and connection to, including myself.”

With others sharing experiences and their own mental health, Gen Z redefines the language surrounding mental health. Terms like “self-care” and “burn-out” have now become terms that are framed around mental health as an essential coping mechanism for those struggling.

“These words are everywhere on social media and even whenever I talk to anyone,” Krystle Valerio, a sophomore student at Southwest Career and Technical Academy said. “I use them myself, but they’re also really broad because for everyone it can mean something different. Like “self-care” everyone has their own definition and way to do “self-care”, for me that’s doing makeup, playing volleyball, or talking to friends to ease myself.”

As the topic of mental health continues to grow, it is starting to get more addressed by Gen Z, it has been pushed for more education on mental health in schools, workplaces, and healthcare systems. The effects of mental health have been more prominent causing awareness on this issue for society.

“I came to notice too that more teachers and lessons are now more associated with mental health,” freshmen Ava Kim, a student at Southwest Career and Technical Academy said. “It’s nice to know that there are more teachers and adults more concerned for our well-being and might understand what we’re going through. A lot of lectures now, for example like health class, [are] giving us more guidance and how we can help ourselves with mental health and others around us.”

The conversation revolving around Gen Z re-imagining mental health is not just only seeking for help, but it’s starting to create more of an impact and promoting it worldwide as the awareness is starting to pave the way for future generations.

“Ever since the pandemic, I feel like the topic of mental health has just grown,” junior Chinelo Umeh, a student at Southwest Career and Technical Academy said. “I felt like before, it would just be overlooked and people would not notice a person is actually struggling until something has happened to them, but now everyone is noticing the small details. I would say I’ve now paid more attention to whether or not a person is acting in a strange way or if they’re feeling down about something.”