The media discussion on the contemporary ‘adolescent mental health crisis’ carries on. The more I read about it (there’s hardly a day in the news it’s not mentioned), the more certain themes take shape for me, as I keep seeing them circulating.
One of the themes is teenagers’ generational pessimism and dejected outlook. Of course this is a generalisation – many adolescents wouldn’t recognise themselves in this. But as far as generalisations go, this seems consistently supported by recent research. This pessimism at the cusp of adulthood indicates wanting to give up right when things are gaining momentum. Which is a problem!
Historical cycles of pessimism and optimism
The media discussions about young people’s pessimism, as well as their surprising yearning for pre-internet times, became louder in the years since the Covid pandemic. A number of explanations are making the rounds. Rising inequality in western countries over decades. The financial crisis and its effects (starting from 2008). Barriers to entry into the professional world for 20 somethings. The unremitting gun violence in the US. And the climate crisis with the prospect of tipping points and melting polar ice caps. Jonathan Haidt and Jean Twenge have argued that the widespread use of smartphones and social media are big parts of the picture too. All these – and other factors, I’m sure – contribute to the pervasive disillusionment felt by today’s adolescents. 
But collective pessimism of this kind is not new; it comes and goes in cycles, which is worth remembering when things appear at their bleakest. Pessimism, for example, swept across society during the Great Depression, the Cold War and the Vietnam War too. Sarah Chaney in her history of self-harm chronicles an earlier period of hopelessness –
the ‘increasing fear … across Europe’ at the turn of the 19th century, ‘associated with pessimistic theories of decline’ (p.71).
What are we seeing today?
Hannah Devlin, in a Guardian article reports on UK adolescents’ views on their lives and future:
British teenagers believe their generation will have a worse life than their parents, according to new research. Money, jobs and the climate crisis were named among the concerns of 1,001 teenagers aged 14 to 17 who were questioned by YouGov for the children’s charity Barnardo’s.
When asked to imagine their lives at the age of 30 years, 55% of teenagers said they believed their lives would be worse than the previous generation, while another 34% thought the next generation of children’s lives would not be any better. Of those surveyed, 9% said they felt “hopeless” about their future.
A survey from the United States shows a parallel trend:
Just one-third of respondents ages 12 to 17 said things were going well for children and teenagers today, in a survey published Monday by Common Sense Media, a children’s advocacy group. Less than half said they thought they would be better off than their parents when they grew up — a downbeat view shared among teenagers in many rich countries, other data shows.
Yet the picture isn’t so clear …
With any theme or trend circulating, we risk losing sight of currents running in other directions. Just a few years ago, we could easily find reports claiming different things:
Despite the ups and downs we all remember from the teen years, adolescents and 20 somethings have always rightfully been society’s leaders when it comes to hope, determination and a resolute belief in change. This has held true regardless of historical context, until recently. An LSE analysis says:
No matter how harsh the economic climate, how bad the labour market conditions, or how high the uncertainty in the face of global terrorism, climate change, or Brexit – the vast majority of young people in Britain always expected at least their own futures to turn out better than those of others.
The contemporary reports we’re seeing reveal a departure from the prototype of the optimistic, undaunted teenager, with large numbers of today’s young people in the west expressing unprecedented levels of uncertainty and resignation (in surprising contrast to the positivity of teenagers in poorer nations that still holds).
So what may be different now?
If we assume for a moment that the climate crisis and inequality are not the only – or the driving – reasons for this widespread pessimism, what else could it be? According to Barnardo’s Lynn Perry:
Children are constantly being bombarded with news of the challenges they face – from worsening inequality and environmental concerns to health worries and an out-of-control housing market. None of this is of their making but it’s just not right that children are left to dread the years ahead instead of feeling excited about their future. We know that to be especially true for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The word ‘bombarded’ jumps out. Could the driving force in the stuckness and despair be the bombardment of information rather than the content of the news? This too muchness and acceleration leads to numbness and saturation, leaving adolescents not quite knowing where to start. Or, for that matter, where to stop.
Psychiatrist and Holocaust survivor Viktor Frankl had written long ago about the vital force keeping camp inmates, in the bleakest of all circumstances, hopeful and alive. What was crucial was for them to see that ‘life is still expecting something from them. Something in the future is expected of them‘.
For adolescents to be able to imagine and choose a viable path towards their future, to come to believe that ‘life is expecting something from them’, perhaps the missing step is to envision a few paths, rather than feel lost in the myriad possibilities they find today.