“All of these kids have depression these days. These kids don’t even know how good they have it”. I am so, so, beyond tired of hearing ignorant comments like these from older generations. For one thing, mental illness is not something you can control. Depression and anxiety is not, being upset that your mom doesn’t let you out on school nights, that you’re not allowed to date that idiot upperclassman you like, or that your parents are making you pay for your own car. Depression and anxiety is a chemical imbalance in the brain. Over recent years, the numbers of teens being diagnosed with depression and anxiety has skyrocketed. Older generations may think, “it’s all in their heads”, because when they were young, these diseases were kept on the down low. No one wanted to talk about them, because of the stigma they carried. Now that having a mental illness is becoming more socially acceptable in the younger generations, the older generations unfortunately still have a very difficult time understanding it.

So why now, in 2016, are so many more cases of anxiety being diagnosed? Well, there is the obvious problem of many cases being untreated years ago, but I also believe a huge part of the problem is that teenagers nowadays are under so much more stress than they were years ago. I know, I know, our parents and grandparents were under a lot of stress too at our age, but we live in a different world today. 30 years ago, you didn’t need a minimum of a bachelor’s degree to get a good paying job. You also didn’t need a six digit salary to live comfortably and raise a family. You didn’t need to pass 5 different regents exams just to graduate high school, and college tuition wasn’t nearly as expensive as it is today. Not to mention the divorce rate was much lower, teen pregnancy was much lower, and the cost of living was much lower. Kids today are under an extreme amount of pressure to do well in school, go to college, and get a job, all while dealing with stressful home lives.

So what happens when those stresses become too much for a person to handle? Many teenagers are ashamed to tell their parents that they think they are suffering from an anxiety disorder, or they may just think how they’re feeling is normal. Also, not all parents fully agree with finding help for their child with anxiety. They may also believe that their child is just suffering from the typical stresses of everyday life. This is often when kids turn to drugs to self-medicate and cope with their anxiety or depression, leading to much larger problems.

Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, and should be taken very seriously. It is not being over dramatic, it is a real disorder and unfortunately very common in our world today. I know from experience that getting medical help for anxiety or depression can make all of the difference, and it is extremely important to be knowledgeable and have an open mind in getting the help you need. If you don’t seek help, anxiety and depression often gets worse over time, and even result in self-harm or suicide. This is what the older generations don’t understand, and is often the reason why teenagers don’t seek help.

If you are suffering from anxiety, do not ever believe that you are spoiled, entitled, or ungrateful. Millennials are given these labels way too much, but we go through a lot! I know that when about half my friends are diagnosed with some sort of mental disorder, there is an obvious problem. I have many friends who have been through more hard times than most adults I know. The stigma of having a mental illness needs to change. We cannot move forward as a society without recognizing that there is a problem, and the first step to change is acceptance.