Is the younger generation more depressed than previous ones?

Relebogile Mabotja spoke to psychiatrist and Head of the Health Care Leadership MBA stream at Stellenbosch Business School Renata Schoeman about how the older generation and the younger generation deal with mental illnesses differently.

Mental illness can affect someone in any age group, but it appears that the younger generation is reporting depression and mental illness more than generations that came before them.

Depression differs from a regular bad day to debilitating sadness and must be diagnosed by a professional said Schoeman.

According to Schoeman it is not necessarily a case of the younger generations being more depressed but rather that conversations around mental illness have become more common.

There is still a lot of Stigma attached but we are more open about [mental illness].

Renata Schoeman, psychiatrist

While people may have been struggling with the same issues in the past there was not an open space to discuss these feelings or seek out treatment.

However, Schoeman said there has been a rise in mental illnesses following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the younger generation does seem to be struggling with the onslaught of social media and having poorer self-care.

Listen to the audio above for more.

This article first appeared on 702 : Is the younger generation more depressed than previous ones?