The lack of meaning in life and empty goals partly explain the mental health crisis of young people, writes Puutio.
Alexander Puutio docent of economics and business sciences
The global mental health crisis of young people is close to many of us. In my case, the pain of young people in the United States becomes concrete on an individual level every fall and spring, when my students enter the classroom for the first lesson.
Over the past few years, I’ve had to get used to the bitter fact that not all new acquaintances make it to the end of the school year. There are as many reasons for dropping out of a course as there are dropouts, but in practice, the background is always the fading of the student’s mental endurance.
Studying in the United States is not a waste of time like my own ancient studies at the Turku Faculty of Law. On the contrary, studying at top local universities is a stressful experience for most. Years of planning and preparations from childhood hobbies and coaching courses culminate in the studies.
Making money and creating a great career are not suitable as a basis for a strong identity, because money loses its value and employers change.
The mental load of studying increases the fact that the degrees my students pursue typically cost the same as a Finnish detached house. In New York, Kela is also not found to support the various incidental costs of living, which is why it is not very surprising that Statista according to researches For Generation Z, making money and creating a good career are the most important goals in life. For example, traveling and getting married are at the bottom of the list of goals. Fortunately, becoming famous still takes last place.
In July, the professor Rasmus Mannerström in Helsingin Sanomat opened the foundations of the mental health crisis in young people through identity theory. Timeless thinking writing containing is worth reading, and Mannerström’s view of how a healthy identity gives a reason to get out of bed hits right at the heart of the mental health crisis in young people.
The life of a modern young person is a preparation guided by external forces for the most productive work. Few people stop to think whether that preparation is meaningful in itself or whether it builds a strong identity.
More and more young people who register for my lectures answer ‘no’ to both questions, after which the performance of even the most skilled teacher is rarely enough to keep them in their seats.
According to the Institute of Health and Welfare’s School Health Survey, schoolchildren’s anxiety has already increased in Finland, where the teachers’ professionalism is at a completely different level compared to the United States.
Behind the lack of mental stamina of the students who drop out of my courses is not mere laziness or weakness of character. The way I see it, it’s that more and more young people don’t see a good enough reason to live the way we ask them to.
Making money and creating a great career are not suitable as a basis for a strong identity, because money loses its value and employers change.
This is why I start each of my courses (even at the risk of flirting with reality) with introspection tasks created by the students. Of course, even the most in-depth discussions on topics such as ‘why are you here’ and ‘how would you like to feel when our course ends’ won’t save anyone’s sanity, but they are suitable as a first step in exploring one’s own identity.
My goal is to make my students think themselves as people. Perhaps they can think of themselves as individuals currently writing their biography. As children or siblings who matter to their loved ones and themselves without a single credit or post-graduation job offer.
I think it is also important to convince young people that our identities should change and develop as experiences accumulate.
This is why I will never ask my soon-to-be-adult toddlers what they will be when they grow up. Instead, I’m going to ask them what they would like to experience in their lifetime.
For my part, I’m also going to do my best to show them how, with time and thought, anyone can become a slightly better person.
Alexander Puutio
The author is a business management consultant and, in addition to his day job, a mixed worker in the teaching field, who teaches economics and development science courses at NYU, Columbia and Harvard, among others.
The column can be discussed from 10.10 until 23.00.