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More Than 1 In 5 Gen Z Adults Report A Mental Health Condition
Author:
June 09, 2026
Assistant Health Editor
Assistant Health Editor
Ava Durgin is the former Assistant Health Editor at mindbodygreen. She holds a B.A. in Global Health and Psychology from Duke University.
Image by jamie grill atlas / Stocksy
June 09, 2026
As a member of Gen Z, I’ve lost count of how many conversations I’ve had that eventually circle back to mental health.
It happens over coffee. During walks with friends. In group chats that start out about weekend plans and somehow end with someone admitting they’re burned out, anxious, overwhelmed, or all of the above.
For many people my age, talking about mental health isn’t unusual. It’s woven into everyday life in a way that feels very different from what older generations often describe. But does this just mean that we are simply more willing to talk about mental health, or are we actually struggling more?
A new report from researchers at University College London suggests it’s not just greater awareness. Young adults today appear to be experiencing significantly higher rates of mental health challenges than the generation before them, and the numbers are difficult to ignore.
Nearly 10,000 young adults were ed into their 20s
The findings come from the Millennium Cohort Study, a large ongoing research project tracking people born in the U.K. between 2000 and 2002.
For this analysis, researchers looked at data from ~9,700 participants who completed mental health assessments between late 2023 and early 2025, when they were around 23 years old. Participants answered questions about psychological distress, anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide attempts, and whether they had a longstanding mental health condition.
The researchers then compared those results with data collected from the same participants at age 17. They also compared Gen Z’s mental health outcomes with a separate cohort of millennials who were assessed at a similar age, roughly a decade earlier.
That design allowed researchers to look not only at how mental health changes during the transition from adolescence to adulthood, but also whether the experience of being a young adult has shifted across generations.
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Gen Z reports more anxiety, depression, & mental health conditions
The prevalence of longstanding mental health conditions appears to have risen sharply over the past decade.
Not long ago, about one in ten young adults reported having a longstanding mental health condition. Today, that number has climbed to more than one in five among Gen Z.
The report also found that 28% of young adults reported high levels of anxiety, while 21% reported significant depressive symptoms. Rates of psychological distress and mental health conditions increased substantially between ages 17 and 23, suggesting that the transition into adulthood remains a particularly vulnerable period.
Some groups were affected more than others. Young women reported worse mental health outcomes than young men across every measure. Those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds were also more ly to report psychological distress and longstanding mental health conditions.
The disparities were especially pronounced among sexual minority young adults. Nearly half reported a longstanding mental health condition, and four in ten reported high levels of psychological distress.
Perhaps most concerning, roughly one in ten participants reported a suicide attempt through self-harm at some point in their lives.
Why young adulthood may feel harder than ever
This study wasn’t designed to pinpoint exactly why mental health challenges have become more common, but it’s hard not to look at the bigger picture.
The experience of being a young adult today looks very different than it did even . Many Gen Z adults spent their late teens or early 20s navigating a global pandemic. Rent and housing costs have skyrocketed. Social media has gone from something we checked occasionally to something that’s woven into nearly every part of daily life. Even basic things protecting our sleep or finding uninterrupted time with friends can feel surprisingly difficult.
Then there’s the reality of this particular life stage. Your late teens and early 20s are often filled with major transitions: leaving home, starting college or a career, figuring out relationships, managing money for the first time, and trying to answer the question of what you want your life to look . That’s been true for generations, but today’s young adults are navigating those challenges in a very different environment.
The takeaway
As someone who falls squarely into Gen Z, this research feels less a collection of statistics and more a snapshot of conversations I’ve had with friends over the past several years. The anxiety, uncertainty, loneliness, and pressure many of us describe aren’t isolated experiences.
That doesn’t mean struggling is inevitable, but it does mean we should stop treating mental health challenges as personal failures. Yes, habits prioritizing sleep, moving your body, staying connected to other people, and reaching out for support matter. They absolutely do. But this research also suggests that many young adults are navigating a set of circumstances that can make good mental health harder to maintain in the first place.
The next step isn’t just raising awareness. It’s creating communities, workplaces, schools, and support systems that help young adults stay well before they reach a breaking point.
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