Today I heard a statistic that made me stop in my tracks. Ok not physically stop because I was driving at the time but I couldn’t stop thinking about this statistic. I was listening to a couple of people talk about anxiety. While it’s not surprising to me that more than half of millennials, my generation, deal with anxiety. If you are an elder millennial (meaning you were born in the ’80s), we went through a lot. Technology changed right before our eyes. Most of us can remember having a corded home phone and it was a game-changer when we got a cordless phone. Who can forget dial-up internet or using the AOL trial disk to get the internet? Now a lot of us work from home and if our internet is slow it can make for a difficult day. Could you imagine if we still were using dial-up? Well for one you could not call into a meeting and be online at the same time. Myspace and AIM, now we have more social media platforms than I can count. You get my point. We also had many traumatic events that we lived through, school shootings, 9/11, the Iraq War, and who can forget Y2K… did anyone else stay up till midnight just to see if anything happened? A lot happened and changed while we were growing up and figuring out who we were, which in turn caused a lot of anxiety. So it’s not surprising when I hear how many of my generation deal with anxiety. But that wasn’t the statistic I heard.
91% of GenZ (1996 and 2012) deal with anxiety. 91 PERCENT! That has stuck with me all day. As much as millennials had happened in their lifetime, GenZ has had double happened in theirs and it’s all been broadcasted around the world thanks to social media. Don’t get me wrong, social media can be used for good and be positive, but it feels like negativity spreads like wildfire. GenZ has dealt with the ramifications of 9/11, racial injustice, LGBTQ+ community, more school shootings, cyberbullying, a global pandemic, and the list goes on. But unlike any other generation, this generation has it all at their fingertips. There is no way to escape it. No wonder this is such a high statistic.
So what can we do to help? First of all, if your kid is in this generation, talk to them. Be open to hearing what they have to say. Even if their worldview differs from your own, don’t shut them down. Hear them out and respond in love. If you know a kid who is struggling with anxiety or depression, don’t hesitate to find a professional for them to talk to. We have to remember that these kids are still developing and there will be times when they cannot express their feelings accurately. A professional therapist or counselor can walk them through parts of their life and help them understand why they feel the way they do. But the biggest thing we can do to help this generation is to show them, love. All of us crave love and all of us are broken. If you are a follower of Christ, we are commanded to show love to others. Showing love doesn’t mean we always agree on every aspect of life and that’s ok. Love like Christ loved. If you dig deep into scripture that is a really tall task, but you can take one step at a time and grow to become more like Jesus every day. Ask yourself this question, “What can you do to show the love of Christ today?” and if you want to take this one step further, “Do I know anyone in that 91%, if so what can I do to show them the love of Christ today?”
I pray that this blog today was an encouragement to you and can help in your daily life. Always know I am available to pray with you or just be someone to talk to when life gets hard. E-mail me at megan@churchanywhere.us if you need prayer!
Talk to you next Monday!