Mental Health Alert!
This might blow your mind: research shows that Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, are more likely to die prematurely from mental health issues leading to suicide and drug overdoses than previous generations.
Why?
Because they feel super stressed and highly anxious: They grew up with the fallout from 9/11, they’ve been influenced by two wars focused on terrorism, they began their careers during the 2008 recession and slow economic growth, and they’re now trying to handle the isolation and fear fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Until the whole world hears about Jesus,
Josh D. McDowell
PS: If you are having thoughts of suicide, please know that you are not alone. If you are in danger of acting on suicidal thoughts, call 911. For support and resources, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 or text 741-741 for the Crisis Text Line.
The Millennial Mental Health Crisis
Suicides and overdoses among young adults were already skyrocketing before the pandemic started. Now experts fear that the situation is going to get even worse.
“…people are more likely to die prematurely from suicide and drug overdoses than previous generations were.
Millennials are financially and generally stressed…experienced slower economic growth than any other generation in U.S. history…
…mortality rates for people from ages 25 to 34 had risen by more than 20 percent since 2008…the increase was highest among white people.
…the Trust for America’s Health last year found that drug-related deaths among people ages 18 to 34 more than doubled from 2007 to 2017, while alcohol-related deaths rose by 69 percent and suicides by 35 percent.
…set against a broader backdrop of despair…
People ages 45 to 64 still have the highest overall risk of suicide.
For Millennials…young people with less education face more financial strain than previous generations did. …they are handcuffed to enormous student loans.
…shame is “one of the bigger drivers of suicide. They have almost double the rate of anxiety disorders compared to Baby Boomers…
“Every person I spoke with was concerned that suicides among Millennials and other groups might rise further in the coming years.” One study projected that the pandemic could lead to 75,000 additional deaths from drugs, alcohol, and suicide.
Suicidal…it’s a feeling of defeat and humiliation followed by a sense of entrapment—of no exit. I just want this to be over.
…best ways to prevent suicide is to make people feel less alone by assuring them that someone cares about them.”
(Olga Khazan, “The Millennial Mental Health Crisis”, The Atlantic, June 11, 2020, https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/06/why-suicide-rates-among-millennials-are-rising/612943/)
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