Young under pressure
More stress than Diggers
THEY should have the world at their feet.
But 18-24-year-olds are the most stressed age group in Australia.
And experts say, bizarrely, it’s likely they are even more stressed than young people facing death in the trenches of World War I over a century ago because that generation had more human connection and purpose.
“When you are mindlessly scrolling social media feeds or online shopping for items you don’t need or sitting in front of Netflix shovelling unhealthy food you are not experiencing life to its fullest,” psychologist Christine Bagley-Jones said.
“All the evidence shows young people are suffering depression and anxiety when it shouldn’t be warranted, when there are no external pressures like war, when they have a high standard of living.”
A survey by youth mental health group Headspace found almost two thirds of 18-24year-olds reported high or very high levels of stress.
A separate survey by health fund Medibank this year found that age bracket to be Australia’s most stressed.
More than 430,000 youngsters are using antidepressants and suicides are up 40 per cent.
Dr Bagley-Jones said smartphones and social media meant young people no longer had face-to-face contact with others, didn’t get out in nature and didn’t feel like they were leading meaningful lives.
“Everyone is under the watchful eye of social media comparing themselves to others, experiencing status envy, feeling they are not having as much fun as others, not doing as well as others, and it’s having an effect on wellbeing,” she said. “No, we don’t need another war, per se, but we do need a war on devices.”
Australia’s stress levels have skyrocketed, with the Medibank survey finding 5.2 million people reported stress in 2019, up from 3.7 million 10 years ago. And new research by Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology’s Associate Professor Sarah Spencer shows it can shrink parts of the brain, stunt memory, and cause people to overeat and make them vulnerable to heart disease.
If you need help with stress or mental illness, you can contact your GP or Lifeline.