Children Born Between Mid 1990’s to 2010
Many political pundits are attributing the young people in Generation Z for pushing the democrats over the finish line in tight midterm races around the country. If the exit polls are accurate, nearly twice as many voters aged 18-29 chose a democrat over a republican candidate.
According to the Hill, 72% of young women in this age group voted democrat. We can probably surmise they voted this way in response to the Supreme Court’s historic overturn of Roe v. Wade. It seems clear that young women want to retain “the right” to terminate the lives of unborn children conceived in non-committal relationships. Nothing embodies the women’s empowerment movement better than willingly engaging in risky behavior and then taking someone else’s life to foster your own hopes and dreams. You go girl!
But are these new-found democrat voters mentally and emotionally stable? A new study reported by the Christian Post found that nearly 70% of Generation Z say their mental health was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is not terribly alarming as people of all ages suffered greatly during lockdowns fueled by fear, scarcity and uncertainty. But what is alarming in this study, is the sheer number of young people, 42%, who suffer from continued and ongoing mental illness now the pandemic is over.
In a recent Daily Wire podcast, Matt Walsh addressed the study and reported the following staggering percentages of Gen Z’ers suffering from a myriad of mental illnesses:
- Anxiety – 90%
- Depression – 78%
- ADHD – 27%
- PTSD – 20%
- OCD – 17%
- Eating Disorders – 14%
- Insomnia – 12%
In addition, in the 18-24 age range, 57% of Gen Z adults take medication to control their symptoms at the cost of $44 per month, and one in five attend ongoing therapy. Respondents to the study also claimed that they are worried about the future. In his podcast, Walsh argues that the mental illness these young people are experiencing is real, but has somehow been manufactured and encouraged by none other than woke progressives in the medical profession and the pharmaceutical companies to produce life-long customers. Are you experiencing any negative feelings, pain, discomfort or emptiness? We have a pill for that!
While we agree with Walsh’s assessment, the problem is much deeper. The Survey Center on American Life reports only 40% of the Gen Z cohort attend a weekly religious service. The Survey Center on American Life also makes this important point, “What most distinguishes Generation Z from previous generations is not that Gen Z’ers are more likely to leave their childhood religion, but rather that many of them lacked a religious upbringing. Fifteen percent of Gen Z’ers report being raised in nonreligious households.”
So, let’s do the math. 60% of Gen Z is not affiliated with any kind of organized religion and from that group, 15% have known absolutely no faith formation as children. Now the mental illness numbers are starting to make more sense. Gen Z, perhaps through no fault of their own, are a spiritually barren, sad and hopeless group of young adults.
They have been fed the lie that the abandonment of all moral guidelines in the pursuit of individual passions is the road to happiness. They have been told that a fulfilling career alone will satisfy the emptiness inside. They have been encouraged to concentrate solely on their own needs as a way to ensure inner tranquility.
Without faith in God, Gen Z have no reason to love appropriately and make moral decisions which are huge factors in living a fulfilled life. Without the promise of a Savior, Gen Z has no hope. Without the influence of the Holy Spirit, Gen Z has no peace. St. Augustine’s most widely known quote, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You,” pretty much sums it up.
Pray for the young people in your life that are anxious, depressed and restless, that they may come to the open arms of God who made them for Himself, and through Him will find true and lasting peace.