Name: RAVIKUMAR K.
Country: India

Year: 2026
Volume: Vol-11, No.2, July-Dec-2026
Page Number: 112- 120
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.21767423

ABSTRACT
This article examines the escalating mental health crisis among Generation Z (born 1997–2012) not as a series of isolated clinical failures, but as a profound sociological phenomenon rooted in structural and technological transformation. Drawing exclusively on secondary data from peer-reviewed journals (2022–2026), doctoral dissertations, and large-scale epidemiological studies across North America, Europe, and Asia, the analysis reveals that Gen Z exhibits significantly higher rates of anxiety, depression, and self-harm compared to Generation X and Boomers specifically 30% anxiety prevalence in Hong Kong Gen Z versus 14.3% for Gen X (Hong Kong Generational Study, 2026). While clinical psychology often frames this distress as individualized pathology, this article argues that the crisis reflects the contradictions of digital capitalism, neoliberal individualism, and what Bauman termed "liquid modernity." By applying Sociological Stress Theory and concepts of Neoliberal Governmentality, the paper finds that Gen Z’s suffering is a rational response to systemic precarity: the erosion of stable careers, algorithmic social comparison, and the demand for "individualized solutions to systemic contradictions." The article concludes that therapeutic interventions alone are insufficient; instead, structural interventions involving economic security, digital platform regulation, and the rebuilding of solid social institutions are required to reverse the trend.

Keywords: Generation Z, Mental Health Crisis, Sociological Perspective, Liquid Modernity, Digital Capitalism