On October 10, World Mental Health Day is celebrated all over the world to promote understanding, create conversations and dismantle the stigma around mental well-being while conversations around mental health are apparently louder now, another generation quietly traverses its path—Gen Z an increasingly stressed and vulnerable group in the fast and hyper-connected world of today.
The Weight Gen Z Carties
Modern life is a pressure cooker and for Gen Z, often feels like no time to breathe be it academic pressure, social media saturation, economic instability, or shifting identities-the storm of emotional pressure reinforces itself. These youngsters are growing up in a far more uncertain world than their predecessors-lacking the space for emotional reflection or self-connection, says Shruti Padhye, Senior Psychologist, Mpower.
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Why Traditional Coping Mechanisms May Not Suffice
From courses on mental wellness to online resources, mental health education is being made available like never before, sometimes ignoring the real emotional needs of youth today. Gen Z often feels alone in their experiences, caught between sky-high expectations from every side, actual demands of authenticity and the stress that ensues. Out of this situation, creativity is developing as an important outlet for not only expression but also for survival.
Creativity as a Lifeline to Mental Health
Creative outlets serve as a much-needed distraction from mundane stressors while fostering emotional resilience. Psychologist Shruti Padhye states how creative initiatives can help empower Gen Z to share and express their emotions in safe spaces. Whether it is writing, performing, painting or filming, creative participation can promote self-awareness and social connection.
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Five Creative Ways to Heal Emotionally
These five creative techniques suggested by mental health professionals will assist Gen Z in decompressing and reconnecting:
1. Drama Therapy: An opportunity to rehearse ways of coping in the form of role-play to improvisation and exploring feelings within a safe controlled environment.
2. It is Slam Poetry: It works great to allow youth to express what has for a long time festered in their hearts piercing the protective screen of stigma surrounding subjects such as grief or anxiety or identity.
3. Ad Filmmaking: The shared nature of the film creation process allows for purging of the emotional experience and development of empath shared with peers.
4. Abstract Art: When words fail, color and form speak. Not only does abstract expression help externalize mental chaos, giving non-verbal emotions a space to exist and it also offers a huge release of regulated chaotic energies.
5. Extempore Speaking: Speaking spontaneously based on personal experience provides vulnerability and strengthens its articulation allowing Gen Z to lay claim and speak with clarity.
A Call to Listen, Support & Empower
The message carried by World Mental Health Day is that well-being constitutes being seen, heard and understood; it doesn’t always mean therapy and medication. For Gen Z, creativity is not merely a vehicle for coping but may serve as a vital link through which one can connect, heal and grow. Society must nurture those spaces where expression becomes empowerment and silence is not seen as the only option.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not substitute professional medical or psychological advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
