Members of Generation Z include people who were born between 1995 and 2010. Sandwiched between Millennials and Generation Alpha, Gen Z individuals are growing up in a time of uncertainty and stress. This generation is also significantly more likely than other generations to report negative mental health according to a recent survey by the APA. One of the major types of mental health struggles that Gen Z is having a hard time with is Social Anxiety.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month and we are continuing our theme of providing education and resources for anyone who is impacted. Which is a lot of us considering recent data suggests that over 50% of Americans will experience mental health problems at some point in their lifetime. Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide. Youth depression rates have doubled since 2012. And mental illness affects people of any age, race, sex, religion, or income.
Self-harm is defined as the infliction of pain onto oneself and can be seen as a symptom of several different mental health disorders, especially in adolescents. Self-harm behaviors typically include restrictive and binge eating, cutting, hitting, scratching, burning, and picking. There are a variety of reasons why people may self-harm and research suggests that these are the most common:
Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) is a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) that was developed in the late 1990s by Dr. Marsha Linehan with the goal of treating Borderline Personality Disorder (BDP). Since that time, DBT has been found to successfully treat many different mental health problems, especially those that involve a difficulty regulating emotions such as ADHD, Bipolar Disorder, Eating Disorders, Major Depression, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder.
The main goals of DBT are to teach people how to live in the moment, regulate their emotions, develop and maintain healthy relationships, and cope with distress. Because the goals are universally valuable, DBT skills have been well-established in the therapy community as a set of useful tools to develop no matter what brings a patient into treatment.
Fear of mental health stigma is the number one reason why people avoid seeking treatment. Stigma most often refers to a set of negative and often unfair beliefs that society has about something. Unfortunately, negative attitudes and beliefs about mental illness are common.
Mental health providers in addition to our community partners need to raise our voices against stigma. By talking openly and accurately about mental health, we can begin to break down the barriers to treatment.
In this article, we set out to arm you with the knowledge needed to fight against mental health stigma – one fact at a time.