Do you still remember the time when you said that you can’t wait to grow up? Many of us wish to take it back now — because adulting is no fun! Or, at least, not as much as we thought. Moreover, if you think about it, the word “adulting” became a word and verb seemingly out of nowhere — and many of us hilariously just “know” what it means. Because, apparently, navigating adulthood is a difficult task — and a new survey confirms it!

Survey Shows That Adulting Is No Fun

The beverage brand, Tropicana, commissioned a survey to see if people indeed feel as though adulting is no fun. Sadly, many of them don’t enjoy being adults — but mainly because they simply just miss their childhood. 35% of them said they miss feeling “happy” upon waking up, 22% reminisced about the childlike level of playfulness they once possessed, and 21% yearned for their childhood version’s degree of optimism.

Unsurprisingly, 42% of those who participated in the survey wake up already feeling tired, 22% start the day already stressed out, and 21% of them are typically greeted with anxiety as soon as they start the day. Furthermore, it wasn’t just the physical exhaustion and stress that the polled individuals felt.

Adulting also somehow makes people overthink the things that they once ignored when they were younger. 45% of them said they wished they didn’t take for granted the fun that they had as kids, 40% wish they still saw the best in people, and 38% miss their once-innocent level of positivity.

3 Possible Reasons Why Adulting Is No Fun

Tropicana initiated the survey for “people to reclaim their childlike positivity” — and it’s always a great thing when we’re reminded to have a better outlook in life! However, sometimes, there are underlying issues why the younger generation seems more depressed and anxious. According to the American Psychological Association, only 45% of Gen Zs consider their mental health to be in “excellent” condition and only 56% of Millennials believe that their mental health is in great condition.

Fortunately, mental health issues are discussed more openly now. But outside factors sometimes trigger these mental health problems.

Possible reasons why the younger gen thinks adulting is no fun:

Social Media

Being connected — and sometimes hyper-connected — to the digital world is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s a great way to stay updated. On the other hand, it can trigger negative feelings when envy gets the better of us. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, social media can negatively impact people — especially teen girls.

Not only is adolescence a sensitive time for pre-teens and teens, but hundreds — if not, thousands — of cyberbullying cases also occur among them; cyberbullying, of course, isn’t just limited to the younger generations.

Politics and Economy

Another potential disadvantage of the younger generations’ hyper-awareness of current events is they’re always updated and they’re constantly witnessing the political disputes in the country.

In a Morning Consult survey, they asked 1,000 Gen Zs to participate in the study that lasted for 3 months — the research was done for the purpose of finding out whether or not they trust the US government. According to 81% of the participants, the ongoing protests in the country made them more aware of the racial issues that the US is facing.

Since the Black Lives Matter movement, 66% of the surveyed Gen Zs said that how some businesses reacted — toward the movement — permanently affected their decision to buy from them. It’s worth noting that Morning Consult also conducted a survey last 2019 and learned that Gen Zs are “predominantly liberal-leaning.”

Not only that, Millennials and Gen Zs are the ones adulting during this time — where the rest of the world is still recovering from the pandemic that seems to have aggravated the worldwide economy further; the increasing number of joblessness may also be a factor.

Prevalence of Crime

While all types of crimes that people from any age group witness can be stressful, and potentially be traumatizing enough to need medical assistance or treatment, gun violence and school shootings, as well as sexual assault are quite more rampant. In a Stress in America survey by the American Psychological Association, they found out that 75% of the Gen Z participants said that mass shootings stress them out.

According to the CEO of the American Psychological Association, Arthur Evans, who is also a psychologist, “The pressures facing Generation Z are different from those that faced older generations at the same age. For example, mass shootings simply did not happen with the same scale and frequency when I was in school,”

Takeaway

Adulting is no fun — or it doesn’t seem to be as fun as we thought it’d be. And Twenty One Pilots pretty much summed up what adulting is like when they sang the “Stressed Out” lines, “Wish we could turn back time / to the good old days / when our momma sang us to sleep / but now we’re stressed out” Sometimes, adulting is no fun because we simply just miss our childhood, innocence, and childlike optimism. Other times, unfortunately, more serious problems are the ones causing a person to feel stress, anxiety, and depression.

That said, if you feel as though your mental health isn’t at its best state, find out if you’re just stressed out or burnt out — or if you need to be assessed by a medical professional, such as a therapist or psychologist. If you feel that this is the case, don’t hesitate to ask for help!

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