On any given day, a quick browse through LinkedIn, Instagram or TikTok will help one see the way Gen Z is engaged in so many fantastic opportunities. They are constantly creating and seeking. They are deciding their own working hours and breaking the drudgery of a typical nine-to-five mould. They are widely understood to be the most brilliant and the most desired by brands, organisations and recruiters. Every boardroom wants to be embellished by these magnificent creatures. They are the horses everyone is betting on…

Yet, behind this great array of achievements, what is the barter they are making? A study by the Harvard Medical Journal suggests that Gen Z has reported twice the rates of anxiety and depression compared to the preceding generation. Why is a generation of overachievers battling with so much? According to an article in the Guardian, “there is something different happening with Gen Z.” The article reports how one in three 18 to 24-year-olds indicate mental health struggles, such as depression or anxiety disorders, compared to one in four in 2000.

In the context of the flourishing of social media, we are all witnessing an excess of achievements, promotions, success stories – ‘20 under 20’, ‘30 under 30’ lists and start-up success stories – as well as elaborate posts of accomplishments decorated with confetti.

On LinkedIn, in particular, most posts are either about winning or how to win through motivational tips and tricks. Have we, in promoting this kind of dangerous hustle culture, somehow erased the word ‘failure’ from the vocabulary of young people? All anyone is chasing is how to win in the least amount of time possible. This is all well and good until an individual slips and fails – which is an ordinary part of real life. Everyone fails and it’s normal. What is not normal is believing that everyone around us is constantly winning, so we should too. So, although the job of a social media site is to help recruit and inspire, it has turned into a wall of fame for overachievers, who are doing mighty things daily and getting thousands of likes and comments.

If it is always so sunny in the life of a Gen Z-er, why are depression, anxiety and fatigue kicking in? Well, the pressure of constantly being the best, smartest and most productive achievers has its flip side. In the world of sports, all great athletes have a therapist who will help them overcome defeat. Similarly, the biggest movie stars also tend to keep their therapists on speed dial to get them through periods of failure. Unfortunately, since social media platforms tend to project stories of success and brilliance, the people consuming them begin to believe this constructed reality to be authentic, so when reality hits them hard, they collapse.

Even brands that address Gen Z as their target group end up creating the most frivolous communication, where the Gen Z individual is either running a successful start-up, playing PUBG on a swanky smartphone or partying at the beach or up in the mountains in Western attire. There is no trace of failure, depression, trauma or anything even remotely representative of their mental health.

The problem is that when a society fails to normalise losing, the result is a high rate of young adult suicides. According to WHO data, in Pakistan alone in 2019, 8.9 suicides occurred for every group of 100,000 people (male 13.3% and women 4.3%), and between 15 and 35 people died by suicide every day – which almost equates to one person ending their life every hour.

Most companies that recruit Gen Z are banking on miracles by expecting them to have fresh perspectives along with ample experience, which is an oxymoron. Experience comes with age and time, and it teaches one how to deal with and react in tough circumstances. By learning how to navigate the different stages of success, one also learns how to process failure and rejection, which are part and parcel of any job. In advertising, most agency heads will talk about recruiting issues among young creatives, as most graduates from art and film schools often choose to launch their own ventures rather than working for an ad agency in a traditional setting, and when a Gen Z person joins such an organisation, they don’t view long-term commitment as a positive. Their fragile minds are already dealing with a lot and a toxic work environment certainly does not help.

Perhaps brands and organisations should spend some time putting together a study on Gen Z. This may help us all be more efficient in understanding them and their mindsets, beyond the idea of representing them with neon lights and catchy rap songs. Perhaps brands could take up Gen Z’s mental health and make it part of their brand purpose. I look forward to collaborating with such empathetic brands to help fight the mental health issues of Gen Z and beyond.

Yawar Iqbal is a multidisciplinary creative.
yawariqbalsyed@gmail.com