Is Gen Z sad? Study shows they're more open about struggles with mental health

Is Gen Z sad?

Jayla Johnson doesn't think so. The 23-year-old who works in brand partnerships in music and entertainment in New York City said those in her generation are simply more brutally honest with their feelings.

She resembles a majority of Gen Z members who say they have a great future ahead of them, according to a new study by Gallup and the Walton Family Foundation released Thursday. Still, only 47% of those polled said they are thriving in their lives right now.

It's a figure the study said is among the lowest across all generations in the U.S. today and is at a much lower rate than millennials reported when they were the same age. Moreso, the study said the only generation on par with Gen Z with that sentiment is the Silent Generation demographic, those Americans who are aged 71 and older, of whom only 45% said they were thriving.

"It’s apparent that Gen Z is struggling in many different facets," said Ryan Jenkins, a bestselling author who has written extensively on Gen Z and millennials.

The study of 3,000 young people conducted this spring comes as Generation Z, a diverse collective of about 68 million Americans born between1997 and 2012, has already had to navigate through many life-changing challenges that past generations did not. That includes spending months of their youth in quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic, which, for many, affected their education and limited their in-person social interaction with their peers.

For some Gen Z'ers, other challenges also include finding their first job in an economy with record-high inflation and experiencing unprecedented political divisiveness in the country.

Gen Z Americans polled in the survey were asked to rate how they saw their current and future lives and that was defined as "thriving" if they gave high ratings in both categories.

"Decisions affecting public policy, learning environments and workplaces should consider the perspectives of — not about — Gen Z, the challenges they face and the solutions that best suit their unique needs," the study said.

"We’re disruptive, we’re innovative, we’re daring," said Johnson who did not take part in the study. "We don’t take the B.S. We are authentic and we are very strong-minded. If I want something, I'm going to work hard for it and not wait for it."

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Gen Z'ers see a bright future, but also feel unprepared for it, study says

And while 76% of Gen Z'ers polled agree they have a great future ahead of them, only 44% of them say they feel prepared for their future.

Johnson said her generation has had to show more resiliency in such a short period of time. A self-professed "social butterfly," Johnson said while she had to take many of her college courses via Zoom and missed going to concerts and hanging out with her friends because of the pandemic, she said that gave her generation a new perspective on life.

"Many roadblocks are thrown at all people, no matter their age. It's just a matter of how you choose to overcome them," said Johnson, who graduated with honors at Drexel University in Philadelphia. "I‘m going to roll with the punches and adjust and adapt."

Nearly 70% of those polled cited their hope for the future is "to make enough money to live comfortably," while 64% say financial resources are a barrier to achieving their future goals and aspirations.

Jenkins said finances will always be on mind for many Gen Z members who "came of age during the great recession and took a lot of that to heart to do their best to be fiscally responsible in a world of turbulence."

Gen Z is more open about mental health than past generations

When asked to describe their current mental health or well-being, just 15% of members of Gen Z polled said it was excellent. Gen Z'ers report having experienced negative emotions such as stress, anxiety and loneliness, the study said.

That’s a big decline compared to a decade ago, when 52% of millennials in that same age range said their mental health was excellent, the study noted. And in 2004, 55% of people aged 18 to 26, including both millennials and Gen X respondents, reported excellent mental health.

"That said, some of this gap may be owed to overall declines in mental health between 2013 and 2023, as millennials and Gen X (now) report far lower mental health ratings today than in 2013 and 2004," the study said.

Johnson said Gen Z'ers are authentic.

"We don't sugarcoat things," Johnson said. "We're going to tell you exactly how we feel. You can't expect someone to know what we're going through."

Jenkins said social media for better or worse has given Gen Z "a platform for their voices from day one to be heard and outspoken." He said technology has in many given Gen Z "an overstimulation that no other generation has had to weigh through."

Jenkins said the impact of Gen Z is still a work in progress.

"They are a highly anxious generation that's bold, confident and socially conscious. It all goes hand-in-hand," Jenkins said. "We won't fully understand how the pandemic has changed them for several years to come.

Johnson has a similar assessment.

"How we are defined isn’t a complete picture, yet. Nobody’s perfect, our lives are just getting started," Johnson said. "Our generation is just one big melting pot. We’re going to be the generation of change."