PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — As 2023 approaches, millennials and members of Generation Z may be taking a new approach to making New Year’s resolutions, focusing more deeply on mental health and wellness.
Kicking off the new year has traditionally included making a personal New Year’s resolution, but according to a new Forbes Health poll, 50% of millennials and Gen Zers are making a shift away from simply eating better and possibly hitting the gym, to improving their mental health.
Philadelphia-based therapist Angela Anderson says such a focus starts not with the future, but here and now.
“What happens at the beginning of the new year, ‘Jan. 1-ers’ feel the obligation to create new purpose. At the same time, it seems like they neglect what they have accomplished,” said Anderson.
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“Everybody kind of wants to create a new map or game plan to be their better self while neglecting the great person that they may have been in the past, and it puts a lot of pressure on the future.”
What Anderson suggests is kind of like starting a new chapter, but you want to be at the end of the book in a way.
“Everybody wants to kind of hit the reset button and create a new version of themselves, which doesn’t allow them to acknowledge the great person that they are in the present,” said Anderson.
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A Scholaroo study finds 21% of people want to work on personal improvements and happiness in 2023, and 79% of people are optimistic that they will be able to maintain their goals.
According to a study done by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of young adults between 18 and 24 years old seriously considered suicide at least once during the 30 days prior to being surveyed.
About 40% of teens between 13 and 18 years old reported experiencing at least one negative mental health symptom in 2021, all while rates of anxiety and depression have skyrocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anderson acknowledges that Gen Zers and millennials live with a specific type of pressure from social media.
“I am obligated to beat this thing. If I put it on social media, then I’m more married to the idea of becoming this person. God forbid you don’t do it. Then what happens?” Anderson asks.
“If you put this thing on social media and you can’t get there, who are you? Who are you? You’re still great. You’re still you. But nobody gives themselves that room.”
Social media also creates an expectation to live up to friends and family that all have these seemingly perfect lives on those platforms, a perception that’s also not real.
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“If you’re not that, then you have ‘failed,’” Anderson said, “and that I think can be debilitating for many people.”
Anderson believes that moving forward into 2023, people should give themselves more credit — and more patience.
“I think the three things that people need to focus on,” said Anderson, “are gratitude, purpose, and kindness.”
