The Curious Case of Increasing Millennial Suicides:
Shocked and saddened to hear the demise of charming, talented, and successful artist Sushant Singh Rajput.
The suicide of a teenage girl from Kerala last week was another shocking news. She was reportedly unable to attend online classes for want of a television or smartphone, and another College student from Kanjirappally, was believed to have committed suicide by jumping into the Meenachil River.
While I express condolences to the families and friends in this time of grief, my thoughts hover around the increase of such phenomenon during the Covid 19 days.
Experts say that the suicide is not only something happening due to a split second decision but a systematic downward spiral of a person's thoughts. My favourite philosopher Jean Paul Sartre said "The absurd man will not commit suicide; he wants to live, without relinquishing any of his certainty, without a future, without hope, without illusions ... and without resignation either.”
While most mass media portrays the entirety of the younger generation(read under 40 years old) as fragile-special-snowflakes, there is a gross underestimation on the mental stresses that they face as opposed to the prior generations.
While the aptly named “Boomers” were born into a world severely ravaged by large-scale wars, they were also at the cusp of a very important global movement, the beginning of globalisation. This was the generation that started with nothing, but were slowly getting connected to the trends and opportunities from around the world. The world had truly become their metaphorical oyster, where hard work could get individuals to a position they could never have imagined in their youth. The “booming” global economy ensured a prosperity to the Boomers.
While this “high” kept rising until the turn of the millennium, the boomers decided to have children – the Gen X, Gen Y & Gen Z. Born into an environment where expectations were set to exceed the growth that their parents could not achieve, the so called “Millennials” were fed dreams that the stars were within reach and aspiring for anything lesser was sacrilegious. While their parents had little to no interest in what their children were going to do, the Boomers wanted to control every aspect of their children, often drawing out detailed career plans before they could even utter their first word.
With this aggressive parenting approach, the millennials were sent to schools and coached to aim for the top spot. Anything less than the absolute top rank often resulted in comparison and admonishment. This hostility within the environment that should’ve been safe and nurturing, instead helped build very high aspirations of self.
Additionally, with the advent of social media, there is a constant flow of content focused on self-image, growth, success and expectations thrown at them every day. Subconsciously, this builds a massive rift between the inflated Self-Image of what one wants to be and current self; and with every day the gap just gets bigger. This conflict takes a huge toll on the mental health of the individual, just keeping up with the expectations every day.
Now for the true double-whammy, this is the generation that has faced two (and now awaiting the third) “once-in-a-generation” economic recession. With the onset of the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, everybody realises that the world has changed forever and everything is uncertain. Every passing day in uncertainty exponentially increases the mental stress occurring from self-set expectations.
Thus, don’t blatantly blame an entire generation for being weak, rather try to empathise with what they are going through; after all, every generation is built and modelled by the generation that came before.
I think the Governments are in dark and unable to address the issue. the Governments should revamp the current education system. Skill for Adolescence is a half an our program in some schools. It should be increased and mental health education should be included in the curriculum. Youngsters should have easy access to social supports as well expert medical counselling whenever needed.
During these difficult Covid 19 days and unprecedented global economic downturn , we should acknowledge the problem of our youth and their uncertain future. Our children need help to overcome tensions, anxiety, stress and depression thrust on them due to pandemic , like online schooling, disappearing jobs, uncertain financial crisis and the Governments should address the issue and find remedies urgently.
MVR Menon
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