‘Just consuming’: Gen Zs reveal what impacts their mental health the most in 2025
Gen Zers are often a mystery to older people with their Labubus and drop-waisted outfits, but like those before them, thre’s still one thing young men struggle to talk about.
Gen Zers are often a mystery to older people with their Labubus and drop-waisted outfits, but they’ve candidly revealed what impacts their mental health - at least one gender has.
Living through a cost-of-living crisis and being attached to our devices makes for a difficult time for most Aussies, and it’s always been the case that young people have it especially tough.
Everyone’s teenage years and early 20s are a high-pressure time. You are working out what you want to do, who you are, and probably wondering if you can pull off Crocs. There’s a lot going on.
And right now, the pressure on this age group is perhaps even more than it has been for previous generations.
According to research from News Corp’s Growth Distillery with Medibank, members of Gen Z are the least confident in managing their mental wellbeing.
The research found that our youngest generation faces intense stress from academic and early career pressures, amplified by social media and high societal expectations, often feeling lost, directionless or lacking in purpose.
So how does all of that really impact young Australians? News.com.au trotted off to the University of New South Wales to find out.
Talking about feelings and mental health can still feel taboo in our Aussie harden-up-and-have-a-laugh culture, but Gen Zers were happy to chat candidly about their mental health, well, at least the women were.
One 19-year-old stopped to chat and didn’t even have to think about what impacts her mental health.
She was with a group of male friends who immediately declined to answer the question or be part of the video.
“University stress impacts me the most and social media,” she said.
On the bright side, she said she’s learnt to implement “self-care days” to help with her mental health.
She tries to hang out with friends and family, switch off, and keep religion part of her routine to feel her best.
Similarly, another young person shared that her mental health can take a dive sometimes because of external pressures.
“It is probably the productivity-focused culture,” she said.
She’s learnt to manage her mental health by “setting boundaries” and also asking for help when she needs it.
An international student stopped for a chat and explained what she’s currently worried about.
“Finding a job is the biggest stress for me,” she said.
Interestingly, it isn’t just her job hunting that makes her anxious; she finds it hard not to compare herself to others.
“I will see on social media that a lot of young people get success so I feel more pressure,” she said.
A young girl in a white top was keen to speak and said what impacts her mental health the most is often how hard she is on herself.
“Probably just standard stresses, like the expectations we put on ourselves,” she said.
News.com.au did keep trying to flag down a few Aussie men and those that stopped shared they weren’t comfortable chatting about the topic of mental health.
Meanwhile, a young guy from the US, didn’t have the same aversion and was happy to chat about his mental health journey in detail.
He shared that a simple switch in his routine had really improved his mental health in the last year.
“Usually when I wake up, I’d just always grab my phone immediately, and I wasn’t fully awake yet, but I was just consuming,” he said.
“A year ago when I switched, I made sure I was completely awake before I even looked at my phone, like an hour after waking up.”
The US Gen Zer studying in Australia said the change in routine has made his mental health “way better”.
“I feel way more ready to attack the day,” he said.
He added that he notices the more time he spends on his phone or social media, the worse off his mental health is, and he tries to stay active to avoid it.
His American mate had a very similar mindset, who argued that his mental health is excellent because he focuses so much on physical activity.
“Whenever I feel stressed or down or anything … just getting in a sweat,” he said.
Once again, he was more than happy to chat about his mental health at length, and said that he likes social media but it can have a negative impact.
“There is a point where what you start consuming impacts how you feel,” he pointed out.
The US boys seemed to have no hang-ups about chewing the fat about their mental health unlike Aussie men who actively fled from the conversation.
In fact, Aussie Gen Z men, don’t seem to be any better at tackling and talking about mental health issues than their Boomers dads.
That aside, news.com.au’s trip to the university did reveal that social media does really impact mental health.
The trend was reflected in research conducted by News Corp’s Growth Distillery with Medibank that showed social media in particular fuels daily stress.
With almost a third of Gen Z reporting negative impacts from extensive social media use, which includes doom scrolling and comparing themselves to others, leading to increased daily stress and anxiety.
The report also showed social media in particular fuels daily stress, with almost a third of Gen Z reporting negative impacts from extensive social media use, which includes doom scrolling and comparing themselves to others, leading to increased daily stress and anxiety.
Psychologist Maria Ruberto, who is the founder and director of Salutegenics Psychology and member of the Medibank Mental Health Reference Group, said young people are struggling in 2025.
“Research tells us that we are seeing a rise in symptomology and there is an increase in self-diagnosis with young people,” Ms Ruberto said.
“It appears that anxiety is the norm, not the exception, with psychological distress at 42.3 per cent for 15 to 24 year olds, up from 18.4 per cent in 2011, a significant difference.
“The ABS is showing that a diagnosable disorder is common in late adolescence. From 2020 to 2022, 38.8 per cent of 16-24 year olds met criteria for a 12-month mental disorder.”
Ms Ruberto argued that “adolescence is a sensitive time” for social evaluation, sleep loss and reward loops.
She explained that it isn’t so much about how much screen time young people are getting, but rather whether it is interfering with something else.
“In practice, I look less at ‘minutes’ and more at function: does phone use displace sleep, crowd out offline friendships, or become compulsive?” she said.
“When it does, we see more anxiety, low mood, and attentional dysregulation, and dialling back phones, restoring sleep, and rebuilding real-world connection helps.”
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Originally published as ‘Just consuming’: Gen Zs reveal what impacts their mental health the most in 2025
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