Gen+Y+-+Is+consumption+really+bringing+us+any+closer+to+happiness?+Or+has+Western+Culture+conditioned+us+to+be+eternally+dissatisfied+with+what+we+have,+and+by+some+perverse+extension,+how+we+are+perceived+by+society?

**Student Number: ** n8321442 **Tutor: ** Colleen Niland
 * Name: ** Amie Henderson

Is Gen Y too ‘individualistic’ and ‘consumer-obsessed’? What is the mental health of this generation like? Provide statistics and evidence. Provide a social and cultural analysis for the mental health profile of this particular group. Make an analysis of the consumption patterns and mental health profile of this group.

//“This is the postmodern desert inhabited by people who are, in effect, consuming themselves in the form of images and abstractions through which their desires, sense of identity, and memories are replicated and then sold back to them as products” //- Larry McCaffrey

NB: I highly recommend that everyone watch the movie and/or book //Fight Club // before continuing to read this analysis as it contains significant spoilers to the text. As well as this, I think it is a brilliant commentary on the twisted nature of modern cultural values that should be experienced by everyone.

media type="custom" key="11113204"

This video is a scene from the 1999 film adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's //Fight Club. //

In the clip, the narrator talks about furnishing his apartment. He describes his condition as being "a slave to the Ikea nesting instinct", commenting that he “had to have” certain items, and comparing his compulsion for browsing catalogues to that of reading pornography. He talks about the objects as though they are a part of his identity, saying: "What kind of dining set defines me as a person?" As he narrates, the camera pans around the apartment, labelling each item with a price, and a clever name and description as it would be found marketed in a furniture catalogue. In the context of the movie, the viewer can understand that at this point, the narrator (Edward Norton) is a single male, living on his own, working a job that he hates, with no friends, and unhealthy health habits. His apartment is his life's achievements.

__Public Health Issue: __ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The public health issue that is being addressed by this analysis is mental health, and the complex relationships between individualism, consumerism, and self-actualization that are contributing to the high incidence of mental disorders for generation Y. Mental illness is a highly relevant public health issue for generation Y, as it contributes to 49% of their overall disease burden (AIHW, 2007). Of people aged between 16 and 24, 26% are suffering from some form of mental disorder (ABS, 2007), as well as this, 15% of people who are seriously affected by mental illness will commit suicide (SANE, 2010).

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Literature review: __

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Mental health is an all-encompassing state, it is defined by the World Health Organization (2011, 2010) as "a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community", it is further described as "the foundation for individual wellbeing" therefore making it an integral component of overall health. This definition is apt, as mental illness affects numerous other components of health and can lead to debilitation, disability and other physiological health issues (WHO, 2010). The financial cost of mental illness in 2009 for 12-25 year olds was $10.6 billion, this was predominantly due to low workplace productivity due to low levels of employment, high levels of absenteeism and premature death (Orygen Youth Health, 2009). Generation Y are experiencing higher rates of mental illness than previous generations, are developing these issues at younger ages, and are retaining their increased risk well into adulthood (AIHW, 2007).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Mental illness can manifest with physical symptoms that can be debilitating, leading to disability or other social and physiological health issues (WHO, 1999). That it is still very much a mystery to health professionals in terms of aetiology and pathophysiology is concerning. It is most likely for this reason that mental illness is often wrongly diagnosed and appropriate treatment is frequently arduous and imprecise <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">(Meadows & Burgess, 2009) <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">. Mental disorders are believed to be caused by biochemical imbalances in the brain, but little more than this is known, particularly for specific illnesses (SANE, 2010). It is known that there is a genetic predisposition to mental illness, and onset is usually triggered by some form of environmental or physical stressor (SANE, 2010).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">People with mental illnesses are also at a social disadvantage, as there is still a very real level of discrimination against them within society and the health care system (McSherry, 2008). The Australian Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing found that only 43% of Australians who had a mental disorder felt that their treatment needs had been met (Meadows & Burgess, 2009). This may be caused by Australia's widespread population and the lack of health services in rural areas, but it could equally be attributed to the level of stigma that exists in our society, influencing individuals to misunderstand their health problems, or to be ashamed and not seek treatment.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Mental illness and general wellbeing are affected by numerous macro factors that are ingrained into the cultural psyche of Australians. Individualism and consumerism are two highly relevant values that are intrinsic to Western culture which have become increasingly prevalent in Australian society as our global economic status has increased (Eckersley and Dear, 2002).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Individualism is defined as where identity is defined according to personal attributes and is developed through successes and failures (Hazelwood & Shakespeare-Finch, 2011).The life patterns project (Wyn et al, 2010) broadly characterizes Generation Y as: being very goal oriented, desiring a ‘high status’ job, being able to recognize the importance of decisions, and highly valuing financial and job security, and education. These findings reflect the individualistic characteristics of Australian society. The study also noticed that Generation Y felt pressured to plan for their futures, but many were content to keep their options open (Wyn et al, 2008). This reflects society’s presently unpredictable workforce and ever changing technologies and skill requirements, as well as Generation Y’s desire for security.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">An article was recently published by Kwok W Wan (2008) that reviews the ‘Good Childhood Inquiry’. It argues that a cultural preoccupation with possessions, fashionable clothes and electronic equipment is to blame for rising mental health problems, citing an increase in behavioural and emotional problems in children over the last quarter of the 20th century. The inquiry found that the material pressures of Western society affect poor children more than the affluent. It believes that "the selling of lifestyles to children creates a culture of material competitiveness and promotes acquisitive individualism at the expense of the principles of community and cooperation.”

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Carlisle and Hanlon (2008) note that humans are biologically designed through evolutionary processes to want to pursue social goals that may be incompatible to their long-term wellbeing. They point out that as humans are influenced by cultural, learning and experiential factors available within their environment; they are drawn to investing in sources of happiness which are only relative to what others have. In this way, characteristics of Western society such as competition, aggression, status striving, materialism, and individualism and consumerism in particular, compromise our wellbeing as we neglect more important aspects of well-being such as relationships, community and health (Carlisle & Hanlon, 2008).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">While individualism and consumerism were still present as cultural values for generation X, the problem that they pose has only increased for generation Y. We are now living in a time where the world is becoming increasingly globalised and less and less personable. By the age of 18, the average young person has viewed over 500,000 TV commercials, in addition to internet, radio and outdoor ads” (McCrindle, 2010). This bombardment of cultural ideals, often highly manufactured through the use of technology, only heighten self-comparison and consumerist drive.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">As well as this, the depersonalization of communication is occurring. Technology, and in particular the innovation of ‘social’ networking, has rendered face-to-face communication obsolete, undermining personal and readily available support networks. In addition, using the internet, people can create profiles that are, in essence, a representation of themselves; displaying to the wider community only those aspects of themselves that they wish to, and if they choose to, they can easily falsify aspects of their online identities to conform to society’s perception of desirable characteristics.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">This is just another way in which Generation Y are made more susceptible to the pursuit of superficial values. Research by Cotten (2008) has shown that technology does not directly impact on well-being, but rather the impacts are mediated through other psychosocial aspects of individuals’, such as their self-concept. This outlook has infiltrated into all levels of communication. People have learnt to measure themselves on their material worth, devaluing our society, and altering our perception of success and happiness.

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Cultural and Social Analysis: __ <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Social theorist, Emile Durkheim was famous for his report of the correlation between youth suicide and individualism. He suggested that youth suicide is due to a lack of sources of social identity and attachment in Western societies, and the heightened expectations of autonomy and individual freedoms within these societies (Eckersley & Dear, 2002).

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Without a form of social identity and attachment, it is easy to see how individuals will turn to material objects to fill this void. Generation Y have learnt to measure their success with material appearance. Young people are influenced to place greater importance on superficial values as they construct their lives, and their personal identities, through consumption. As a result, generation Y are suffering from more academic stress, body image and peer pressure.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The impact that these cultural factors have upon mental health can be summarised using psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theory of human motivations, based upon his hierarchy of needs. Maslow suggested that humans have basic physiological, safety, social, and esteem needs. All of these needs have to be fulfilled before a person can truly focus on happiness. The barrier lies in our society’s perception of the fulfilment of these needs; especially those of safety, and esteem. Current perception, manipulated by the media and advertising, sets these levels at unattainable heights, ultimately leading to chronic dissatisfaction.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 130%;"> //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">(Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs) // <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The persistent nature of mental disorders means that more often than not, individuals who are diagnosed with a mental disorder will, without appropriate intervention, retain their disorder for years and, in many cases, for the rest of their lives (SANE, 2010). As the future of our country, Generation Y will be impacted by the repercussions of these health disparities for the rest of their lives, particularly if treatment is not accessible. This will eventually have a negative influence on the economy through increased need for health services and welfare due to disability.

This essay has outlined the ways in which the characteristics of western society provide an environment that fosters dissatisfaction and mental illness: through depersonalization of support networks, unrealistic expectations, acquisitive individualism and material competitiveness; all compounded by the human condition. Unless the very nature of our culture changes, it is likely that successive generations will be faced with the same health issues. Addressing mental illness should be a very serious concern for public health authorities due to the geographical, social and generational inequalities that exist. It is vital that appropriate infrastructure be developed and community awareness be raised regarding mental health. Mental illness demands more focus and resources, for research and accessible treatment, in order to improve the collective health status of Generation Y and their successors.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">__Artefact Analysis and Learning Reflections:__ //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">“We no longer live life. We consume it.” //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;"> - Vicki Robin <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">“Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate, so we can buy shit we don’t need.” // - Tyler Durden

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Fight Club, as a whole, acts as a commentary on the consumerist and individualist nature of people in the 21st century. It holds a mirror up to the world and points out its flaws. “We are consumers. We are by-products of a lifestyle obsession. Murder, poverty, crime; these things don’t concern [us]. What concerns [us] is celebrity magazines, television with five hundred channels, some guy’s name on [our] underwear.” The movie paints generation Y as superficial beings and is right in pointing the blame for these generational characteristics at the greater cultural values.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The first line of the clip has the narrator describe himself as “a //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">slave // to the Ikea nesting //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">instinct” //. The use of these two words emphasizes the macro forces that drive people to submit to consumerist culture. The theme of consumerism is also evident in the line; “I had it all” juxtaposed by the context of the scene in which the narrator is seen ordering more material things; this time, it is ‘dust ruffles’ which can be universally agreed upon as an object of completely no use. Later, when all of his material possessions are destroyed, the narrator says he “was so close to being complete.”

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The inclusion of the Ikea brand is appropriate as it embodies globalized consumerism, the influence of advertising is represented by the way in which the furniture is priced and named. Globalisation is also incorporated in the juxtaposition of a traditional cultural symbol: yīnyáng, which when simplified may refer to balance//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">, // marketed commercially as a piece of furniture by the Finnish.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">The narrator’s apartment is constructed entirely for show; he sees it as being a part of himself. This is reflected in the line of dialogue: “What kind of dining set defines me as a person?” He is attracted to environmentally-friendly or indigenous-crafted products, as displaying these makes his feel like a conscientious person, just as the yīnyáng coffee table makes him feel clever//<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">. //His tone of voice when talking about these attributes and the dialogue; “peoples of… wherever”, shows that he does not care. This creates the illusion of individualism through aquisition.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">At a contrast to this, his apartment is completely devoid of personal objects, like photos, mementos, or food other than condiments. Norton describes his character as “having to go insane to save himself from society.” The automated recording can be interpreted as a symbol for depersonalisation and lack of support services and social interaction.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Fight Club is an extremist commentary. It follows the journey of one nameless man through violence, tragedy and destruction, to eventual spiritual enlightenment. I believe that it is not meant to suggest that today's youth engage in complete anarchic upheaval, merely to open their eyes to the myriad of larger cultural factors that influence our decisions, and distort our viewpoints of what it means to be happy, and to emphasize the difficulty of breaking from these societal ideals. Personally, I believe that the movie (and book) means to encourage us to acheive our own enlightenment, and to pursue self-fulfilment through purpose, relationships, and the development of self-worth. There is a chance that this message may lead to widespread perception alteration, having an eventual zeitgeist effect on the principles and values of western culture.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">This assessment piece has taught me how to better apply critical analysis to the world around me. I can now see that health issues are not just limited to boring things like policy and politics, but can be observed in every aspect of the world around us. As well as this, I can better follow the interplay of the myriad of factors that influence health, giving me a far greater appreciation for my knowledge and the complex and precarious balance of maintaining population health.

__<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Reference List: __
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Australian Bureau of Statistics (2007) //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing: Summary of Results. // Retrieved October 2, 2011 from: <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">[]


 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2007). //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Young Australians: Their health and wellbeing 2007 //. Retrieved from Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">[]

> >
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Carlisle S & Hanlon P (2008) Well-being as a focus for public health? A critique and defence. //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Critical Public Health, 18(3) //; 263-270. DOI: 10.1080/09581590802277358
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Eckersley R. & Dear, K. (2002) Cultural correlates of youth suicide, //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Social Science &Medicine, // //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">55(11): // 1891-1904. DOI: 10.1016/S0277-9536(01)00319-7
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Hazelwood Z & Shakespeare-Finch J (2011). //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">I'm Listening: Communication for health professionals. // Inn Press. P 144.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">McSherry B (2008) Mental health and human rights: the role of the law in developing a right to enjoy the highest attainable standard of mental health in Australia. //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Journal of Law and Medicine, // 18(3): 27-45. Retrieved from <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">[]


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Meadows G N & Burgess P M (2009) Perceived need for mental health care: findings from the 2007 Australian Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry; 43(7): 624-34. DOI: 10.1080/00048670902970866
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">Orygen Youth Health.(2009).Ten Billion reasons to invest in youth mental health. Retrieved November 02, 2011 from <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 20px;">[]
 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Sane Australia (2010) Facts and figures about mental illness. Retrieved from <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">[]


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">Wan, Kwok W (2008) Mental health and poverty. //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Perspectives in Public Health //, 128(3); 108-109. DOI: 10.1177/14664240081280030902


 * <span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">World Health Organization (2010) //<span style="font-family: 'Cambria','serif';">Mental health: strengthening our response //. Retrieved from <span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 19px;">[]

__<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif';">Comments: __
 * **<span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'cambria','serif';">On Cupcakes or Cricket? **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">This was very enlightening, thank you. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">I think it is very concerning that disparities such as this still exist today, and even moreso that they are so difficult to perceive until someone exposes them as you have done. I completely agree with your contention that these inequalities stem from a history of historically stigmatised social influence.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">I remember as a child, neither I nor my sister were ever given a piece of sporting equipment as a gift, but my brother was always enrolled in sports. I never wanted to participate in physical education at school, but I found that when I was forced into it, I always enjoyed myself. Your wiki has made me consider the real reasons behind this. When I chose to sit out from sports, it was not because I didn’t want to participate; it was because my friends didn’t want to, and because girls’ sweating was seen as a very negative attribute.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">In today’s society, advertising only markets exercise products and gym memberships to women with either a social, fitness or image incentive. It is never to achieve in the sporting world or to have fun. Our culture seems to have an unwavering belief that women and sports are incompatible with fun. It is always just seen as a means to an end. Being raised with perspectives like these are certainly detrimental to health status and young girls who are raised with these beliefs and ideologies will only continue to unintentionally transfer the stigma to their own children. It really is a health cycle that needs to be broken and you are right in saying that awareness is the best way to achieve this.


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'cambria','serif';">On 'Face of Evil' - The Stigma Associated with Mental Illness. **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">Wow. That video was really chilling.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">To think that just one act of kindness from a stranger could have averted that tragedy. This is just a person who lost faith in humanity due to a society that vastly misunderstood his needs. It is the human condition to fear and extradite things and people that they do not understand or that are different from themselves; it is evolutionary.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">I completely agree with your position. In decreasing the stigma of mental health, the people who are affected will feel better about themselves, about mental illness in general, and about the rest of the world. They will then have more faith in the health care system and its ability to help them. It doesn’t matter how much money you pour into fixing the problem, positive change cannot occur until a drastic perception alteration has been achieved. This definitely needs to occur before primary health care services can be utilized to their full potential.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">There is a recent advertising campaign on television about mental health, I don’t know if you’ve seen it but it spreads the message of reducing stigma and treating people with mental illness like you would treat everyone else. I think this is a great incentive and hopefully it will be very effective in reaching a wide audience and hopefully instigating a widespread perception shift, at any rate, advertising initiatives such as these come at a far lesser cost than the publication that mental health received after the tragedy of the Port Arthur massacre. Anyone who disagrees with directing funds towards mental health stigma awareness campaigns should read your wiki. Thankyou : )


 * **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">Gen Y, skins and the issue that is 'binge' drinking **

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">Binge drinking seems to me to be a particularly obstinate health issue to address, particularly as young people are often reluctant to take advice from older generations. I used to think that binge drinking was so prevalent in our culture because children were brought up with parents, who they viewed as ‘uncool’, abstaining from alcohol and teaching them that binge drinking was unhealthy, subsequently adopting opposing behaviours to be seen as ‘cool’.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">Reading your wiki, I realise that my childhood was probably not experienced by the majority of generation Y. I had not realized how many children’s parents were indifferent to alcohol consumption or how prevalent the ‘they are going to be drinking anyway, I may as well buy it for them’ attitude has become. I can see from your analysis that my upbringing is probably the reason that when I view your artefact, I am more than a little bit revolted by it. Personally, the kind of loss of self-respect and control that is depicted seems very incompatible with fun.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Cambria','serif'; font-size: 130%;">I also acknowledge the peer influence involved. Binge drinking has become a social normality particularly in club and music cultures. It is a part of every social occasion; births, deaths, marriage and birthdays, and this serves to ingrain the association between ‘alcohol’ and ‘fun’ and, disturbingly, ‘Australianism’ into the cultural psyche of our nation from an inconceivably young age. When someone refuses to drink at a social occasion, people immediately assume that something is wrong; that the individual is sick, unhappy or pregnant. The implications of this outlook are really quite alarming, and the health effects are enormous. Any real change will be very difficult to achieve.