Young adults seem to live the most confusing lives. They are always in conflict with their thoughts and emotions.
It’s like nothing’s gonna work out like everything has to be perfect. If it isn’t, they are destined to fail. This sounds very similar to something we call the “mid-life crisis”. You know, the experience that people in their 40s & 50s have because they are unsure about what they want to do in life.
They have a constant conflict with their thoughts and emotions as well. It almost seems like this generation’s young adults experience two “mid-life crisis” in their lives, which really affects their mental health.
For those that need a simpler definition, you can say that a mid-life crisis is equivalent to a large amount of stress dealt with all at once. You feel confused about what you wanna do in life.
What kind of legacy do you want to leave behind? What have you done with your life so far that was meaningful?
Those questions sound familiar don’t they? I bet you said those to yourself at least once while at school or at work. For some of you, it’s both.
The reasons I say this is pretty obvious and I will explain them more in detail later on, but it all has to do with the world today.
We go through a tough economy, health problems (mental and physical), global warming, poverty, etc. There’s so much going on to the point where no one can think or care about themselves.
The main issue that I’m going to talk about is the economy and health problems.
Economy
The economy is not in the best position right now. Sure, we have higher wages for us to make more money, but what’s the point if the cost of living is much higher.
This can take a toll on a lot of young adults’ mental health because they don’t know what to do. If you’re an adolescent or young adult, you can seriously relate to this.
You think about how you’re going to pay rent when you move out from your parents. You think about your job and ask yourself “is this a job that I can move up in position?” Most likely, the answer is yes but it’s going to take a long time if you do. For some of you, you don’t even have a job and are struggling to find one.
Take me for example. I was unemployed and wasn’t looking for a job. I decided that I want to continue with school because I need to get my master’s degree to do any kind of counseling or therapy.
The thing was, I did not want to take any student loans out. It’s easily the worst decision to do if you want more education.
But anyways, I decided that I need a job to pay for my masters. I started looking for a job in August. I had my resume perfect, my certificates, and some experience under my belt. It seemed like I applied for job after job to the point where I applied to 100+ jobs.
Out of all of those jobs, I got 4 interviews. All of these interviews were in far places as well like Torrance and Mission Hills. I finally got a job in February. It took me 6 months to find a job.
It takes a long time for people to find jobs, especially if you’re young and don’t have a lot of experience.
College & The State of Young Adults Mental Health
It would be even more difficult for people that have to go to school and have a job. These people are usually in college, looking to live by themselves or pay for tuition.
Tuition is increasing each year while the quality of education slowly decreases. For most people, college is their only choice so they are working extra hard to get through it.
You see how bad that must be for your mental and physical health. Constant stress, staying up all night doing homework and having no social life because responsibilities have to be taken care of.
Prioritizing your life and managing your responsibilities is a good way to improve your mental health and alleviate a lot of stress, but it shouldn’t have to be that way.
Young adults and even adolescents are at the bottom of the workforce and already experiencing this kind of stress. In the world of technology, we are constantly moving and adapting to the point of burnout. We need to all slow down and take a few steps back for our health.
Health Concerns
You can see what this change in our world is doing to us. It’s time to dive deeper into our health. If you look at our physical health, we are getting bigger and bigger each year.
That is due to the easy access to fast food and the amount of food available as well. With this being said, you could say to just ignore all of that and make your own healthy meals. That sounds like a great idea, but with what time?
Homework, Work, School, Chores, Sleep. I don’t see much time for that especially for those that are constantly thinking about other things like their future or career path.
Health Not Our Biggest Concern
We tend to forget the little things that actually matter to us. Our health is the most important thing. Your career doesn’t matter if you can’t do the work. You’re too sick to even get up or you’re too big so you lose your breath quickly.
We need to work on having more time for ourselves and exercise. You don’t know how many people I see wait for an elevator when the stairs are wide open. I also recommend not going to a gym because you’re not gonna have time for that and become one of many that have a membership but never goes.
Just walk everywhere you go to. If it’s school, work or just to hang out, try to walk most of the way. If that’s too much for you, then do some home exercises with the time you do have that’s free.
Mental Health
Let’s look at young adults’ mental health for a second, especially around suicide, depression, and anxiety.
If you look at suicide rates according to age, you see that the highest group of people are in their 40s-50s. That’s the same age where people experience their mid-life crisis. If you look at the suicide rate of young adults, you can see a sudden increase each year. The reasons are exactly what I have stated before. Too much to do with so little time.
With the world advancing at such a fast pace, we all have to adapt and be prepared for it. The ones that are unable to get lost in the shuffle and suffer from it.
This advancement was supposed to make life easier and give us more time to relax and enjoy life. All it did was make life more stressful because we use the free time we do have to do other things. We get busier and busier without even realizing it.
When that happens, we get depressed. We feel like we’re never doing enough, so we do more. Doing a lot and being productive is good for the long run, but you’ll be tired if you act like it’s a sprint. Your mental health declines because you never have time to recharge your batteries. This is a problem everyone faces, but for young adults, it is worse.
With depression comes anxiety, and we all know what happens when we get anxious. It’s like trying to pull your hair out of your head. It’s frustrating to deal with! You can never find the solutions to your problems and it feels like it will never end.
Summary
To recap over everything I mentioned (for those who want the best information in a short amount of time):
- Young Adults experience way more stress and mental health issues than anyone else
- Young Adults experience “two mid-life crisis” in their lives
- Suicide Rates of Young Adults are increasing each year
- Technology has made life more complicated than easy
- We do way too much without having time to enjoy life
- It’s important to recharge your batteries when you have time
- It’s really difficult for young adults to find a job, especially if they go to school as well
