Depression may be on the rise among younger millennials even as typical risk factors such as substance use and antisocial behavior fall, a new study in the International Journal of Epidemiology suggests.
Researchers looked at two groups of millennials in the United Kingdom, one born between 1991 and 1992 and a second born between 2000 and 2002.
The researchers said they found that overall symptoms of both depression and self-harm had increased by age 14 in the younger cohort compared to the older one.
Symptoms of depression increased from 9 % to almost 15 % between 2005 and 2015 — the years of each group’s respective check-in — while reported self-harm increased from almost 12 % to more than 14 %.
What’s more, the younger millennials reported lower overall risk factors such as smoking (3 % compared to 9 %) and drinking alcohol (43 % versus 52 %), as well as fewer anti-social behaviors (28 % versus 40 %).
While this newest research came from the United Kingdom, similar findings have been made in the United States.
For instance, a 2018 report from Blue Cross Blue Shield found that diagnoses of major depression had risen 47 % for millennials in 2013
Millennial who?
Defining the age range of the millennial generation is fuzzy.
The U.S. Census Bureau has used the year 2000 as a cutoff birth year while the Pew Research Center sets it back to 1996.
But whether the younger group in the U.K. study represents the limit of the millennial generation or the beginning of Generation Z, the results are clear: The kids are depressed and it’s not clear why.
The study did find younger millennials slept fewer than eight hours per night (11 %% versus 6 %) and had higher body mass index (BMI) scores than their older counterparts (7 % scored as obese compared to 4 % in the older cohort).
But the researchers cautioned against drawing any single conclusion from this data.
Instead, these results, “suggest relationships between these factors might be more complex and dynamic in nature than currently understood,” the study authors wrote
Signs and symptoms
“Some of the warning signs experienced when suffering from depression may include changes in sleep (interrupted sleep or sleeping too much), changes in eating patterns (eating too much or too little), changes in performance at school or work, increased isolation, changes in mood such as sadness and irritability, loss of interest or pleasure in things once enjoyed, fatigue, restlessness, decreased ability to concentrate/focus,” said Geny Zapata, PsyD, a health psychologist and director of behavioral sciences at Adventist Health White Memorial family medicine residency program in Los Angeles.
Here are a few of the tips she gave for millennials to better safeguard their mental health:
- Seek the help of a medical professional.
- Seek mental health services such as individual psychotherapy or joining a support group.
- Reduce isolation: Reach out and communicate with friends and family you trust.
- Practice doing activities and things that you used to enjoy (read a book, take a walk, talk to friends, go out for tea, take a class, go to the movies).
- If you are spiritual or religious, seek support from your spiritual or religious community.
- Focus on improving your sleep, nutrition, and physical health.
“Most of all please be patient with yourself,” Zapata said “The symptoms of depression came with time and they will need time to be worked through. With professional assistance, your patience, and your effort it does get better and your quality of life will improve.”
//SC//HEALTHLINE
Jemima Fenteng – Twum
THE JFT EDIT 
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