It is essential that people feel comfortable when discussing their mental health, but does harm come from the good?

Mental health has traditionally been an unorthodox topic of conversation but has become somewhat de-stigmatized. Over the past few years, preexisting stigmas surrounding mental health have lessened, normalizing the subject.

After interviewing Baby Boomers, members of Generation X, Millennials, and members of Generation Z and Alpha, the pure difference in mental health stigmas is apparent.

“Mental health used to be a lot more hidden and unacknowledged,” a millennial interviewee said. “People definitely used to be more ashamed to talk about it.”

Yet as conversations around mental health have become normalized, the subject has also become more of a noticeably prominent problem. This begs the question – has the normalization of mental health solely allowed struggling people to voice their problems, or has it also created a placebo effect, causing an uprising of healthy people convinced they’re struggling? If so, this could dilute the severity of those who genuinely need help and attention with their mental health.

The world is ever-changing, which allows past concerns such as stigmas around mental health to have room for improvement. With such drastic advancements in technology over the past few decades, social media has created a plethora of information that is accessible to anybody, which can both help and hurt those consuming it. While informing viewers about mental health is beneficial, a vast access to negative information can harm and scare its consumers.

Videos promoting mental health educate their viewers in ways that past generations could not be educated.

Social media has created an undoubtedly beneficial abundance of information. However, this bottomless vat of accessibility can become overwhelming for its users. In the case of naive teenagers mindlessly scrolling on TikTok, it can be natural for them to self-diagnose themselves with extremely real and existent mental illnesses. Depression and anxiety are two commonly self-diagnosed illnesses by way of social media, according to multiple interviewees.

CNN Health found that 15% of members of Gen Z aged 18-26 described their mental health as excellent when asked to express their current mental health.

“There are a lot of mental health struggles in this generation,” a Generation Z interviewee said. “I see a lot of depression and anxiety around me.”

Social media’s extreme exposure to information about mental health can easily alarm users looking for answers to their questions.

Nevertheless, modernizations worldwide provide beneficial innovations relating to mental health awareness, even via social media. Numerous creators on apps such as TikTok and Instagram post daily to raise awareness about mental health. This provides a sense of normalization and education that past generations lacked, as the interviewees collectively explained.

“Social media can definitely hurt people’s mental health,” the anonymous millennial speaker explained, referring to the notorious provocation of comparison, tendency to isolate, and fueling of the fear of missing out (FOMO). “But one of its upsides is that it spreads awareness to people.”

Generations such as Generation Z and Generation Alpha are growing up understanding mental illnesses and their extremities. They have access to resources that past generations lacked. This allows them to grow up in a healthy environment, regardless of the detriments that other modern advancements, such as social media and technologies, implement.

“It’s better than it was, but it’s not far enough. We still have so much we can change,” said a millennial.

As the world continues to evolve, increasing changes surrounding mental health are imminent. Just as our current innovations have provided beneficial resources along with rising concerns, so will the coming generations. This variability is inevitable, so we must learn how to manage such vast innovations and utilize them beneficially.

*Due to the sensitive nature of the content of this article, all interviewees have been identified by their generation, rather than their name.