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Why mental health issues are more common in 20s

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From ELLE

We might be known as 'snowflakes' to the generations before us - insinuating we're 'less resilient' and 'more emotionally vulnerable' than our elders - but new research indicates that the millennial generation (as well as Generation Z) are actually more prone to mental health issues than any other.

A recent study, published in the Psychological Medicine journal, analysed same-sex twins born in 1994 and 1995 in England and Wales, assessing their experiences of loneliness and mental health among other things. What the study found was that the young people who reported feeling lonely were more than twice as likely to suffer from mental illness than those who weren't lonely.

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

Loneliness was measured in the study on an eight point scale, and the results indicated that for every two point increase in levels of loneliness reported by participants, the likelihood of them also having experienced mental illness more than doubled.

Taking into consideration a recent Office of National Statistics survey on loneliness across the general population, where 16-24-year-olds were found to be more lonely than even the over 75s, you can infer that young people are far more likely to experience mental health issues than any other age group.

In the study, almost 10% (9.78% to be exact) of 16-24-year-olds reported feeling lonely 'often' or 'always'. Of the 25-34 age group, 6.06% of respondents said they felt lonely either often or always. This was compared to just 2.79% of those aged 75 or above who said they felt lonely most of the time

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

With such high levels of loneliness being reported among the 16-35 age group - thought to be triggered by the online age which virtualises many relationships and most interactions - it's no surprise that mental health takes a hit.

But because of increased incidences of mental health issues, young people are also feeling less afraid to talk openly about it. Posts sharing the raw realities of anxiety, depression and more are becoming increasingly common, serving to reassure others with similar conditions that they're not 'mad', and that suffering with mental illness is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of.


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