By MARLONE SURTEES

Although depression, anxiety, and other mental disorders have been around since the beginning of humanity itself, they have only recently been recognised by health professionals and people around the world as clinical issues. This created a generational gap in both understanding and compassion towards those affected.

Many teens and young adults feel the need to hide their emotional trauma, caused not only by circumstances and experience but also by mental disorders. While feelings of anxiety, uncertainty and so forth may originate from one’s circumstances and past experiences, mental disorders have one source: the human brain.

In the past, there was no difference between someone with bipolar disorder, and someone who was viewed as psychotic due to their mental state. Many of those who had to deal with mental disorders were given only two options: keep it to yourself, or be considered a dangerous citizen and have your human rights stripped away.

In the middle of the 20th century, when scientists were able to uncover more about the human mind, mental disorders slowly began to be accepted by society. However, it is clear that Generation Z (consisting of those born between the years 1995 and 2015) is the most open-minded when it comes to this particular stigma.

This has raised a number of issues, however, including self-diagnosis, which leads to a complete misconception of what someone with a clinical mental problem truly experiences. On the other hand, members of this generation are provided with professional healthcare when dealing with a mental disorder and are given the support they need by peers.

The stigma surrounding mental disorders still stands, even with the vast amount of research that proves them to be serious illnesses. As members of a society that has developed so much in such a small space of time, we must take it upon ourselves to help those who feel helpless. We must bring about a change.