We have never had a generation so capable and with so many options for the future. Today our children can choose where they will study, work and live. Globalisation and digital transformation have created a new world of opportunities for young people, a world we did not believe possible when we were their age.
With so many possibilities, one would expect younger generations to be optimistic about their future. However, this is not necessarily the case. Young people today are more pessimistic than they were a few years ago.
According to the study Healthy Learning and Working Environments, half of young people between 18 and 25 years old do not have such an optimistic view of the future. Is that why? Because of the negative expectations they created about their ability to be autonomous and independent. And, as we all know, negative expectations have a direct and negative impact on mental health, compromising the ability to establish empathetic interpersonal relationships, to make healthy decisions, to cope with stress, to make complex decisions, to manage emotions and even to define a purpose or meaning in life, individually or collectively.
There is an urgent need to reverse this trend towards pessimism among young people and invest more in promoting their mental health. This is only possible if we are able to prepare this generation for the uncertainty that characterises education and the labour market.
When it comes to the mental health of young people, the biggest challenge will be the development of cognitive skills in numerical and digital literacy, problem solving, communication, information analysis, entrepreneurship, but not only that. Also socio-emotional skills related to the management of interpersonal relationships, emotions and attitudes, such as leadership, teamwork, self-regulation and initiative.
In a world that is changing at a dizzying speed, uncertainty is the most certain thing we have. The principle must be to provide the new generation with tools that allow them to ride the crest of the wave, with the lightness of optimism and focusing on mental health.
Tânia Gaspar is a professor and director of the Service of Psychology of Innovation and Knowledge at the Universidade Lusófona. She is the national coordinator of Healthy Behaviour of School Children of the World Health Organization and coordinator of the Portuguese Laboratory of Healthy Learning and Working Environments.
Mental is a section of the Observer dedicated exclusively to issues related to Mental Health. It is the result of a collaboration with the Portuguese-American Foundation for Development (FLAD) and the Hospital da Luz and has the collaboration of the Faculty of Psychiatry of the Order of Physicians and the Order of Portuguese Psychologists. It is completely independent editorial content.
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Source: Observadora
