Generation Z, born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, has grown up in a fast-paced, digitally-driven world. While Gen-Z individuals are known for their adaptability and resilience, they also face unique challenges that can lead to anxiety, burnout, and depression. Drawing on the latest research and insights from mental health professionals, we will provide practical advice on how Gen-Z can navigate the pressures of modern life, build resilience, and take care of their mental well-being. From managing social media usage to prioritizing self-care, these tips are designed to empower Gen-Z individuals to proactively address mental health challenges and cultivate healthy coping strategies. By equipping themselves with these expert tips, Gen-Z can better navigate the complexities of their generation and build a solid foundation for their mental health and well-being.

“Anxiety is a persistent sense of impending doom, an apprehension that the proverbial shoe is about to drop at any time, and the only way to counter that is to always remain highly vigilant and on our toes. Burnout is a state of almost perpetual physical, mental, and emotional fatigue, and a feeling of being completely drained that tends to remain despite rest. “Mentally exhausted”, “demotivated”, “irritated”, are common ways used to describe this long drawn state. Depression is a condition where one is overtaken by a lack of pleasure (including in activities and things that they previously enjoyed), lack of interest, low mood, mood swings, feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and hopelessness, and fatigue among other things,” says Drisha Dey, Consultant Psychologist, Kolkata.

Gen-Z in this fast-paced life have often found themselves being low, worked up or exhausted. “When experiencing depression, anxiety or burnout, people biologically experience a lack of energy or happiness due to the dip in the happy hormones. This makes it difficult for them to feel motivated. It has been scientifically proven, that doing any form of physical activity is the simplest way one can activate the release of these happy hormones,” believes Shinjini Deb, Clinical Psychologist, Kolkata.

Dr Pallavi Joshi, Consultant Psychiatrist, Manipal Hospital, Varthur, Bangalore says, “Amounting to prevalence of almost 14 percent in adolescents, there could be several reasons for depression in children such as adjustment issues, poor scholastic performance, various forms of abuse, bullying, lack of support from peers and emotional unavailability of parents. In teens, in addition to the factors mentioned in childhood depression, gadget addiction, addiction to other substances, rejection and bullying by peers and negative self-image are important contributory factors.”

Dr Joshi believes having alcohol or other substances as a coping mechanism can lead to amotivational syndrome, especially when you are stressing on certain things. “It may lead to lethargic behaviour and can lead to depression and post scholastic performance and burnout. So, when you are stressed out, you know, just take right things under your stride,” adds Dr Joshi.

Anxiety, burnout and depression, although may appear similar but are different because Gen Z suffers from all at one point of time. “Chronic stress at work usually leads to burnout. Burnout can usually be resolved by taking time away from activity that causes you stress. However, depression and anxiety do not usually go on its own. For a life free of anxiety, it is essential to realize that family and friends are more important as compared to social media. We need to develop stronger and healthier ties with the family members, increasing family time like having breakfast, and dinner together, speaking out on issues that concern us, watching movies together, going out and making more friends that are meaningful,” opines Dr Ambrish Dixit, Senior Consultant, Internal Medicine, Max Superspeciality Hospital, Dehradun.

Dealing With Anxiety 

 Dey and Dr. Ambrish Dixit share some common tips to deal with anxiety:

1. The 5 4 3 2 1 grounding technique wherein we count 5 things we can see, 4 things we can touch, 3 things we can hear, 2 things we can smell, and 1 thing we can taste.
2. Colouring and doodling has shown to calm the nervous system.
3. Get into nature and sunlight as much as possible; Go for a walk, even if it is for 10 minutes.
4. Making Gen Z realize that work and career are important but family is more important
5. There should be proper division of time for rest, food, entertainment and work
6. Making parents and peers realize that your kid’s performance is not the criteria for giving love and care
7. One can also use any guided meditation or guided imagery to sit and calm down their racing thoughts. Even 1-minute meditations help.
8. Try taking a cold shower. The cold jars one back into the present and away from the persistent negative thoughts.
9. Write down what is scaring you, and formulate a plan to deal with it if it were to occur. Now, you have a potential solution to the potential problem.
10. The only thing we get out of comparing ourselves to others is the feeling of inferiority. There will always be people better than you are, and worse than you at something. Focus on growing and becoming your best at that something.
11. It is always advisable to consult a mental health professional.

DEPRESSION

Dey And Deb share common tips to deal with depression:

1. Consult a mental health professional as soon as possible.
2. Avoid self-medicating with alcohol, nicotine, and other substances, at all costs.
3. Speak and spend time with people who will not judge you and would understand where you are coming from. You will feel like isolating, and going into a cocoon – Do NOT. That is how the lies your brain is telling you are solidified.
4. Do not believe every thought you have. You are not the person having the thought. You are the person who is observing that there is a thought coming in.
5. Be kind to yourself, not one person can perform at the same rate of excellence every day. Cannot bring yourself to do a whole batch of laundry? Do five items. Make yourself do 1% progress.
6. List five reasons you admire in yourself and try to make these reasons independent of how you serve others.
7. Take a lukewarm shower, watch some cat/dog videos, eat some comfort food, and know that you will not always feel like this.
8. Stop comparing your life to others. They do not know your story, and you will never know their entire story. “Best” is not a sustainable position, it is always temporary.
9. Go out of the room or outdoors. Preferably, when there is sunlight.
10. Doing one high-energy activity – exercising, stretching, walking or swimming atleast for 10 minutes.
11. Doing things that once gave you happiness, but you have given up. It could be any form of art, dance, music or sport.
12. Making sure you do not skip meals.
13. Bath in cold water would relieve the body of the stress.
14. Resting your body as far as possible.

BURNOUT

Dey shares tips to deal with a burnout:

1. Take some time to get off social media completely.
2. Audit your life. Look at the things in your life that energize you and the ones that deplete you.
3. Make a realistic plan wherein you increase the presence of the things that energize you, and decrease the things that deplete you.
4. Do whatever you can, and as much as you can, to instil work-life balance. Ambition is good, only ambition is harmful. Hustling without taking care of yourself will be detrimental in the end.
5. Jump/dance around, even if it is for 5 minutes. Move your body.
6. Do one thing, if possible, every day that you enjoyed doing as a child. Connect with your inner child, do more of what makes you feel alive. At the end of the day, the point of life is to live.
7. Do NOT isolate from your social support group. Make yourself meet up even if it for 30 minutes, you need to remind yourself that the world exists outside your mind.
8. Gradually cut out negative people, places, influences etc.
9. Consult a mental health professional.

Many a time, due to excessive stress, one may feel restless or have butterflies in the stomach. You may not get an adequate restorative sleep. “Deep breathing and light exercise are useful at such times. To block negative thoughts, use thought-stopping methods. For example, wear a rubber band around your wrist throughout the day. Whenever you feel your mind is wandering towards unnecessary or unpleasant things, snap the rubber band. The pain stimulus on the wrist dissociates our mind from that thought,” signs off Dr Joshi.

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