The Traumatic Struggle Between Gen Z and “Savior Complex”
Our world isn’t perfect. Or rather, humans aren’t perfect. Poverty strikes war-torn countries, malnutrition hunts innocent children, and pollutants infect clean water. As the world struggles with increasing overpopulation, we’ve found ourselves to have limited resources for unlimited lives. The scar on Earth left by humans is getting deeper and deeper. Forests are falling and ice caps are melting, it’s only a matter of time before the world below our very own feet starts to fail. Losing faith in the leaders of today to enact change, the youth of today are actively trying to solve world matters. Although Generation Z may view trying to solve all thxese issues by themselves as a good idea, the mental health toll of this “savior complex syndrome” is one that no other generation has equally faced.
When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived at a time when the world was least ready for it, our generation has found themselves at the heart of trying to fix everything. With the excess amount of time on our hands and sudden loss of worries from work and school, Gen Z has looked to solve the issues of other people. Called “savior syndrome,” it seems that if Gen Z can’t help themselves, they automatically look to help others. This is also backed by the fact that 77% of Gen Z’ers are extremely interested in volunteering and careers in nonprofits.
By advocating for what seems like thousands of problems, the digital natives utilize virtual platforms like TikTok and Instagram to promote their political and social agendas, a drastic new primary medium for influencing public opinion when compared to the black-and-white television utilized in the 1950s. Commonly amplified through digital graphics and petitions, the voices of Gen Z have sometimes reached millions of people. However, many have been quick to point out that this “white knight syndrome” has had more negative mental health effects on Gen Z than positive effects on others.
A key example is #BlackLivesMatter, a decentralized social movement looking to advocate for systematically oppressed Black lives, as well as ending racially motivated injustice against the Black community. Although the organization was founded in 2013 in response to the death of Trayvon Martin, the movement really found its footing following the death of George Floyd, a Black man unfortunately killed by Minneapolis police. Quickly spreading through social networks, Floyd’s death became the stepping stone for an expeditious unveiling of the hidden systemic oppression the Black community faces. From this unveiling, Gen Z has been looking to avenge all unjust Black live deaths lost to systemic oppression. With some prevail, the BLM movement has made progress, especially in the domain of police brutality.
A key takeaway from BLM is its protests. With the numerous protests against police brutality and other injustices faced by the Black community, BLM is speculated to be the biggest movement in U.S. history. The discrimination and marginalization of the Black community have led to barriers in education, financial opportunities, and health care; thus contributing to the mental health problems of the Black community. Although the goals of BLM to end these mental health issues the Black community faces is simple, there is a question to ask whether BLM has contributed to that same racial trauma.
As I mentioned before, multiple protests have happened across the states without any breaks, even right here in Irvine, CA. From these constant protests, protestors have found themselves with no physical rest and instead, a physical toll. Mustard gas, rubber police bullets, batons, and ‘police kidnappings’ are all something a majority of protestors have unfortunately experienced. The negative results of this herd mentality from protests have led to life and death encounters, traumatic experiences of seeing your loved ones bashed and arrested by cops, and irreversible physical damage from beatings and mustard gas. All undoubtedly damaging for mental health, with some even leading to PTSD. If you’re looking for numbers, around 14,000 protestors have been arrested and over 30 killed due to BLM protests. The mental health trauma Gen Z has faced from these protests is insurmountable, showing just how much damage Gen Z is willing to put themselves through in order to find justice for minorities in our communities.
Another world issue Gen Z looks to tackle is the Uyghur Muslim genocides primarily taking place in Xinjiang, China. A modern Shoah, China has been looking to “cleanse” the Muslim ethnic minority group since 2017. Although these genocides have been lurking in the shadows for almost three years, mass media has only recently caught wind of the unethical killings.
Petitions have quickly surfaced to end the use of the re-education camps, although there’s not much x amount of signatures can do to end the actions of $14.3 million worth foreign one-party country. As such, China has done little to nothing to end their concentration camps. Still, Gen Z continues to advocate on the virtual front in the hopes of changing something although it will be practically impossible for any change. This forces us to question whether it’s justifiable if Gen Z should still carry on the torch. After all, Gen Z has been sacrificing their own needs in a dead-end battle to ‘save’ the Uyghur Muslims. When push comes to shove, we can only rely on our world leaders to enact change. However, many Gen Z’ers seem to not understand this, causing them to further stretch their mental health in the pursuit to save someone outside their reach.
Another example of this comes in recent times. The Beirut explosion in the Middle East has led to an increased strain on Lebanon, a country already suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic. This unfortunate event has, like the issues before, led to Gen Z actively advocating for it. Through petitions and donations, Gen Z looks to once again fight the battles of other people. Although this is good at first, at some point we need to take a break. Many high school students in the U.S. are already starting non-profit organizations just to aid Beirut, creating increased workload stress for an initiative that will most likely have little impact as Lebanon is oceans away. Still, teenagers and young adults alike look to actively advocate for the ‘saving’ of Lebanon at the expense of their own well-being in order to seem like the hero of the day, creating an unhealthy environment that fosters one’s own sacrifice for the benefit of another.
For other issues, our generation’s high schoolers have swiftly started not-for-profit organizations. From simple hand-washing awareness programs to STEM education initiatives, there’s most likely a non-profit organization looking to tackle any issue you can think of. With one being started almost every day, teenagers around the world are attempting to solve multitudes of issues at the expense of their own childhood. By taking the matters of adults into their own hands, high school students are taking the stress of adult life and youth life all at once, making a generation more mentally fragile than ever before.
Teenagers are meant to have fun. After all, you only live through your youth once. However, this non-profit wave that has crashed is resulting in more and more of the youth of today to build start-ups and found community-changing initiatives. And although these initiatives are great, the mental health toll of running a business is arguably traumatic for mere high school students. With school, other extra-curriculars, and competitions on top of that, the mental health toll of today’s students is truly becoming unimaginable.
However, it will practically be impossible to convince these high school students to stop for their own good due to the well-known game of college admissions. By ‘saving’ others, often more times than not high school students look to impress college admissions officers in order to get into their dream college or university. Additionally, the added stress from parents trying to get their children into these colleges has led to the workload of the average student to be comparable to that of a CEO of a major corporation. Undoubtedly, this savior complex resulting from this game of college admissions has caused more trauma and mental health problems for teenagers than they can take, leading to more serious problems down the road.
In the end, Gen Z is getting smarter. More of us are graduating from college, and more of us are looking to use our education to develop solutions for those who need them. From advocating for the needs of their own communities to those across oceans, Gen Z has found themselves to be at the center of trying to solve every problem on Earth. Whenever Gen Z finds an issue, they put away everything else to fight for it. Although on paper this may seem like a great idea to back, the truth is far uglier than what looks real on the surface. “Zoomers” have been giving up their own needs to provide little impactful advocacy for others, resulting in a lose-lose situation for all. Instead of relying on our world leaders to do the job, teenagers and young adults of today are actively trying to take a world problem into their own hands. By trying to face these monumental tasks solely by themselves, Gen Z has found themselves with more stress and mental toll than any other generation before. Ultimately, Gen Z’s “savior complex” has taken place less in the real world and more in the technological front, creating a humanitarian movement with a mental toll unlike any before.