Throughout the generations, 2 we have only ever seen a rise in overall alcohol consumption. However, Gen Z is probably the first generation to not choose alcohol as its coping mechanism. Every being needs an anchor to hold onto, and alcohol has been a means to let loose for a long time.
This trend has been diluted by Gen Z, a generation that’s called the most addicted generation yet not to alcohol.
Gen Z has been living in the age of technology ever since their birth. Their surroundings have been consumed by technology, and so have they themselves. This generation might not consume enough alcohol to be called an addict, but they do consume enough screen time to become a generation that cannot live without technology.
Every influencer out there is a person they feel like they can rely on. Any information being spread online is deemed to be trustworthy if it’s spread on a scale that cannot be measured. For Gen-Z, the online traffic is what rules their roads.
Trends awaken, and the first generation to follow it, own it, is Gen Z.
It’s quite similar to gambling.
This generation gambles on its existence itself.
The major difference between Gen Z and other generations is that Gen Z are bound to take more stress; however, they are aware of their depleting mental health too. Their stress levels are so high that to reduce them, they reach out to the first thing that’s the most potent in dealing with it. Right or wrong? That doesn’t matter to them so long as it’s dulling their sense of stress.
Stress is therefore the instigator of making Gen-Z appear in every other substance industry, except alcohol. The need to figure things out, clear their head, and keep working in an environment that’s depleting their energy eventually consumes their minds.
Gen-Z are more prone to lean towards substance abuse of substances like marijuana, vaping, prescription drugs and the like, instead of alcohol. A generation that deals with stress in all other ways except the conventional one.
The Gen-Z consensus on alcohol intake clearly shows that Gen-Z has considered alcohol to be a side-dish rather than the main course, as other generations see it to be.
This generation is a rebellion in itself. It’s a generation where minds don’t think alike, yet their goal leads to a unified change in society. Gen-Z is making changes in the world, but at the cost of what?
The motive is to survive, by any means necessary.
For this generation, conventional methods mean nothing to them. All that matters is what can get rid of their problems the fastest and easiest. A generation that believes in manifestation and delusion together is Gen Z.
They don’t want themselves to be caught up in the riffraff of daily life. For them, a rose with a thorn is as pleasant as a rose without, if it grants them the cure for their problems. This generation believes in delusion as a mental barrier while being self-aware about their existential problems as well. It is aware.
But it chooses to continue what it does. It chooses to still get addicted to things that are even worse than alcohol.
For them, therefore, anything, whether it be medicine or poison, is as good as amrit because it is a cure, albeit not long-term, but a cure.
Substance abuse is one.
Social media is another.
Vape and Marijuana are like their personal therapist.
And for this generation, words of wisdom matter not if their own life is crumbling apart without these means.
They don’t believe in sharing themselves wholly but only expressing a part of themselves. This part is what the world sees, hears and feels. The rest, they keep to themselves, coping with it amongst the shadows like a spider caught in its own web, eating away its habitat to escape the longing loneliness.
To Gen-Z, stress is a hormone they absolutely detest and yet a feeling they keep on piling. Overall, the generation is drowning in stress. Whether it be financial or relational. They feel cornered every second of their life, and this deprivation causes them to choose addiction over everything else.
Their lifestyle brings them to the verge of breaking out. One of the most common reasons for Gen Z to choose such a lifestyle is peer pressure. Gen Z doesn’t quite believe a change will occur in their life easily. So, they find a means to live through it.
Therefore, they are, indeed, the generation addicted to all sorts of things, except the most conventional ones. They are stoned by their own life decisions, and then they make the abstract thought real by eventually grabbing the unconventional methods to satisfy the need to become better and feel better.
They strive in pain because there isn’t any other sane option to choose.
These harmful addictions that they cater to are just a means to dull that pain. Whether it be marijuana, social media, vaping, or gambling. For this generation, they are just a means to end their own suffering, faster and easier than any alcoholic drink ever could.
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