Millennials: The Generation of Tired, Broken and Empty

I’m 32, smacked right in the middle of the millennial age range, and if there is something that I have learned about our age bracket… it’s how we all feel the same, somehow.

I can’t remember the last time I asked a millennial how they are and they answered back happy- with no buts, no ifs, and no strings attached. I was in a wellness retreat a few weeks ago in Singapore with participants across the Asia Pacific-  mostly millennials. In one exercise, we were tasked to write something that we want to do more this year. I quickly wrote, “sleep more and stress less”. I was surprised that the other answers were almost the same. To sleep more, to rest, to stress less, and to heal. I was not alone in feeling this way, I wasn’t the only millennial who was tired, broken, and empty. 

If you are an exception, not tired, not broken, and not empty… I am genuinely happy for you. Despite the world’s state, you remain steadfast and strong. 

I get often asked how I am. With no hesitation, I always answer “tired”. I mean it literally and figuratively. Millennials have the tendency to work a lot and don’t have a work-life balance. For many of my peers, “work is life and life is work”. We constantly work and feel that our worth is based on what we do. 

Millennials work a lot and despite poor circumstances, we usually carry on. 

Millennials being tired is mostly about work but why are we so broken and empty? 

I can’t even count how many of my friends have anxiety and depression. Many of us joke about how we can’t even find time to break down because we have to work. How sad is that? How sad it is to feel so terrible but not be allowed to feel that way. How sad is it to want to take a breather but you got to put your feelings on hold? Maybe this is how we all get so broken. 

Though we’ve been battling mental health stigmas, millennials are in the middle of two generations that understands mental health so differently. I remember hearing my mom on the phone talking to a friend who has a child with anxiety. They talked about it as if it wasn’t so alarming. Maybe this is why millennials are also so broken. Because we were raised by a generation that knows so little about mental health. But, even now, we haven’t truly understood it. 

Many millennials have also chosen to remain single, unmarried, and childless. This is because we have seen the best and the worse. We all wanted to be loved but also know the consequences that we have to face, the world that we have to live in, and the future that we are set to face. I can’t really blame anyone for that, this world is so chaotic that we don’t want to complicate it more. 

Empty, empty is such a big word. But after being so broken, we walk through life as if it isn’t difficult. We go on with our hearts and minds in total chaos, and we often fall into a spiral of emptiness and just want to survive. 

Though we’ve fallen into this pit of tiredness, brokenness, and emptiness, millennials are still one of the best people I know. People who are intelligent know how to have fun, are adventurous, and will forever be, strong. 

*The views and opinions expressed in this editorial does not reflect the views and opinions of this digital publication, its affiliates, and its employees