Global Suicide

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for people aged 15-29, with over 700,000 reported deaths by suicide every year. The rate of suicide has dropped over the years but increased by 4% from 2020 to 2021. 77% of global suicides occur in low and mid-income countries, with many of them being impulsive. Common causes of suicide include illnesses, alcohol use, disorders, depression, financial issues, violence, abuse, and discrimination. The World Health Organization suggests that limiting access to the means of suicide, fostering socio-emotional life skills in adolescents, and early identifying of suicidal behavior are key factors in preventing suicide. Strategies for preventing suicide include raising awareness, situation analysis, financing, capacity building, multisectoral collaboration, surveillance and monitoring and evaluation. Every tragedy of suicide has lead to long lasting trauma in families.

Social Media and Mental Health

It is apparent that social media has both positive and negative impacts on our mental health. We are social creatures, we need interaction and relationships to thrive. Many of the positive effects of social interaction include; boost our self worth, provide comfort, prevent loneliness, ease stress, anxiety and depression. While many uses of social media help us find a place to be creative, discover valuable learning sources, they also connect us to our family, friends, and communities across the world. However, it can’t replace the feeling of a real connection. Some people are absorbed in this fake reality where people post their “perfect lives,” it makes some people feel excluded and insecure. It feels as if their life is lacking fun experiences. Getting attention online releases dopamine, creating an addiction. Part of the addiction stems from the convenience of social media. Many of us have access to smartphones and other devices, this makes it more convenient to get rid of our boredom, “This round-the-clock, hyper connectivity can trigger impulse control problems, the constant alerts and notifications affecting your concentration and focus, disturbing your sleep, and making you a slave to your phone.” Despite social media being relatively new technology, many studies have discovered that the link between it’s heavy usage and anxiety, depression, loneliness, suicidal thoughts, and self-harm are strong. The article then stretches into solving overuse of social media, like limiting the use, gratitude journaling, spending more time with loved ones, and shifting our focus.

Gen Z: The First Generation With No Purpose

The internet gives a million different truths that have a solution to our problems. Constantly consuming information that conflicts with one another, but it is up to only you to figure out what is the right information? We have the freedom to choose our own truth (there is no one correct interpretation of reality), but when we’re given this opportunity, we become directionless. We all crave (to some degree) meaning and certainty within our lives. Most people prefer to not think for themselves and like being told what to do because we can convince ourselves that the consequences of our actions are not by our own doing. When we’re told one truth, it gives us a singular direction to strive towards, but then it feels like there’s nothing solid to believe in. So we ask ourselves, who do we know who to trust? When we become uncertain and question who and what we can trust, purposelessness becomes the symptom. It leads to a lack of trust in individuals and also a lack of community (that we are now seeing). Communities consist of shared goals and ideas. It elicits more purpose from our lives. The biggest problem with finding purpose is simulated by hyper-reality. The blurring of lines between reality and the thing that’s simulating reality, or where we overvalue something until it becomes more real than what it truly is. Gen z is facing the problem of hyper-reality, focusing on outward appearances, wealth, status, and other forms of symbolism. To combat this, People in the self-improvement space are advocating to go back t tradition, but it is important to also evolve and adapt to this new age of individualism. This can be done by returning to pre-modernism, like believing one grand narrative, getting off social media, and building communities again. Doing this can help people find more purpose and meaning in their lives and live more connected lives.