Depression in people born after 1984 (Millennial's) -> -> -> ('All' members are welcome to post a comment)

[Just Sara]

The following is a link to an interview discussing why a large percentage of young people suffer the effects of depression more than at any other time in history. Please watch it (YouTube) and discuss your thoughts here with others...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=As8XkJNaHbs

As a parent it wasn't easy to hear their comments, but as with all generations, I passed on good and bad thru my parenting because; 'we learn as we go', and that's forgivable.

I think their comments need to be heard and digested. Hopefully it'll resonate with many here, so please, write and chat among yourselves. I'm sure you all have your stories and opinions...

If disagreements occur, that's fine as long as people are respectful and accept that sometimes not agreeing's ok. Could both young and older people please allow for (or applaud) and respect generational experiences (or inexperience) and insight?

The main focus of this thread is depression and its causative factors in children, adolescents and young adults. The interview focuses on generalisations so it doesn't address trauma.

(As a side note:) Do you think what [he's] saying could be translated into dealing with (or not) trauma responses in young people?

Kind regards;

Sez

[Just Sara]

Sorry...type-o.

When I said it's a 'link', I meant a web address. You'll have to write it in the address bar to get to the site.

My apologies for any inconvenience;

Sez 👵

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Sez (and a wave to all),

I feel this is an interesting idea for a thread. Thank you for creating it plus mentioning the YouTube clip 🙂

I watched the video, and I’m not entirely sure if I agree or disagree with his comments. I must admit that I’m weary of generalisations about any large group of people regardless of whether it’s a whole generation (or any other large group). I feel perhaps his comments might apply to some millienials but most definitely not all...

I understand his key points were parenting, corporate culture, technology and the environment (i.e. corporate environment, the way we engage with our friends, etc).

But I feel he overlooked some other equally important points that can affect any millenial’s (or person’s) outlook, namely, individual personality and cultural background.

About culture, I feel his comments perhaps apply more to millennials from a certain cultural background. But even then, it wouldn’t apply to all who share the same cultural heritage. There are many cultures in the world that don’t have a parenting tradition of telling their children that they are “special” or can “achieve anything they want”, for example.

I feel another important issue for many millenials is climate change. I feel as the physical environment continues to change, more millenials are growing increasingly concerned about this issue, which has implications for their outlook and mental health.

Granted, those are my thoughts. Thanks for letting me share them.

Love always, H x H’s

Pepper xoxo

[Just Sara]

Dear Pepper; (and all reading)

I can always count on your amazing outlook to enhance discussions, so thankyou for your enlightening contribution.

I totally agree; [his] generalisations were a little too simplistic for a whole generation of westerners. I also appreciate you bringing up culture and climate change. The latter has been a constant worry for me, but being confronted by your revelation that it's a major concern for young people, makes total sense.

I'm not so sure about personality as this I feel is more developmental in nature. Granted though, it does hold true when it comes to recognising opportunities and decision making.

There was one topic you left out which was 'impatience'. I noticed this attribute in my son very early on in his development and tried as his parent to settle a sense of 'all or nothing' in everything he approached.

I had a win recently when he wanted to quit his job because dealing with his boss made him want to run away. His comment of; "What's the point?" comes to mind.

We practised a talk I wanted him to initiate with her and even made hand notes for him to glance at if he became nervous. He did as I suggested and came out with 16 extra hrs work per week and a more open working relationship with her. I'm very proud of him.

Focusing on the corporate world for a moment, the above anecdote demonstrates the lack of negotiation skills in some people, and not just millennial's. Managers and the like need to recognise their greatest assets are baseline staff. Unfortunately though, the mindset of 'everyone's replaceable' continues to rule.

The interview touched on this briefly saying organisations focus on money more than people. Although this is true, we as their employee's, are just not speaking up and when we do it doesn't seem to come out right due to fear, emotions and lack of training.

Learning to deal with disappointment and conflict is a basic requirement for life, not just in the workplace. Managers suffer this too, so it trickles down to affect everyone.

The other issue not included in his rhetoric was 'Education and the school yard'. I don't have space to elaborate, but would welcome comments from others.

Have a great day!

H x H

Sez

[Peppermintbach]

Hi Sez (and all),

Thank you for your kind and gracious words 🙂 My comments just reflected some of my casual observations and thoughts from viewing the video...

You sound justifiably and understandably very proud of your son. I think it’s great that you helped him see an alternative approach to the work situation, which resulted in a positive outcome for him. 16 extra hours plus an improved working relationship is an outstanding achievement! Well done 🙂

Fair point about “impatience.” I felt that point overlapped with technology so I didn’t explicitly mention it as I had already mentioned technology. As in wasn’t one of his key points essentially technology teaches instant gratification, which results in impatience? So I thought that by mentioning tech, the impatience part was implied...sorry, my bad for a lack of clarity.

Speaking of corporate culture, I feel cultural differences can influence the perceived “role” of corporations to their employees. In my culture(s), the mentality wouldn’t be for corporations to change, it would be for employees to learn to adapt to the corporate culture (rather than the other way around as suggested in the video).

If anyone expressed dissatisfaction with their job to my relatives, for example, she or he would be berated for not being “tough” enough. It is perceived in my culture(s) that the onus is on the staff member to work harder, “fit in” and just “get on with it.”

My culture isn’t much for emotional nurturing or praise. Tough love tends be the norm in most families. Stoicism and tenacity when facing adversity is strongly encouraged, and considered a virtue in my culture.

I’m not saying this is right or wrong or better or worse but simply trying to highlight how cultural differences can potentially affect perception and behaviour.

Whichever way though, I do feel you have a point about how corporate culture can potentially have a negative impact on a person’s mental health if employees are not valued.

Anyway, thanks for the fantastic post! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It was eye opening and engaging to read it 🙂

Hopefully other people will chime in with their thoughts...

Love always, H x H’s

Pepper xoxo