Forget about the lost generation: Young people in Switzerland are much happier than expected

How are young people in Switzerland doing? How do young women and men feel in the canton of Zurich? How are they doing psychologically? These questions are a constant. And the verdict seems clear: the pandemic has unsettled an entire generation of young adults. You can read this again and again, in studies, in the media.

With good reason, at least with regard to the Corona crisis at the time: almost exactly five years ago, schools and universities were closed. From one day to the next, teenagers and students had to get by without their most important social meeting place. Instead, they languished at home in front of the screen and on their smartphones. Secondary school students feared for their future. Trial apprenticeships were cancelled. Many young people did not know whether they would even find an apprenticeship. Several industries were also plunged into the Corona crisis and had other things to do than worry about training newcomers to the job market.

In short: the young people were "lost", clueless, lost and without a plan as to what was going on. The new German term was chosen as the youth word of the year 2020.

This narrative persists to this day, even though the days of distance learning, shutdowns, masks and social distancing are long gone. "Teens, why are you so sad?" wrote the "NZZ am Sonntag" in a long article in November 2023. It is one of many reports that have been published on the subject in recent years.

Right at the beginning of the text, we learn: "The mental health of Swiss children and young people is worse than ever." This statement was accompanied by the usual horror stories: authorities and specialist agencies are raising the alarm. The places in youth psychiatry are full and the waiting lists are long, the journalists write. And: "Up to eight young people a day call the Pro Juventute Foundation's 147 helpline with suicidal thoughts and four with depression. More than ever before."

And so the "NZZ am Sonntag" is also certain: this generation is lost. The young people the journalists spoke to remained isolated from one another, even among friends: "'We have all lost ourselves,' they say, 'to our cell phones.'"

Pro Juventute sees things similarly, at least when it comes to lobbying at the federal level. A year ago, foundation director Nicole Platel told the "Blick": "Young people are feeling more and more stressed." Health Minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (SP) was invited to get an idea of ​​"the important work (of the emergency number) 147."

And for the Federal Commission for Child and Youth Issues it is clear: more therapy places for young people, more prevention, more early detection and intervention when signs of mental health problems appear are needed.

Politicians in the canton of Zurich are also concerned about the mental health of young people. In January, the cantonal council approved 10 million francs for better psychiatric care for children and young people. This money will be spent, among other things, on a digital platform that will make it easier for young patients and therapists to connect with each other.

The package will also benefit the further training of youth psychologists - a core concern of the popular initiative "Healthy Youth Now!" by the president of the canton's Young Center, Benedikt Schmid. These specialists are intended to relieve the burden on youth psychiatrists and thus expand the circle of professionals who can care for mentally ill young people.

That is certainly not wrong. Nobody can object to stressed young people being better off, whether in Zurich or elsewhere in Switzerland.

However, one point is all too easily forgotten in this debate: the vast majority of adolescents and young adults in this country do not have any mental health problems. This is the result of a representative study published by Pro Juventute on Thursday: When asked about their mental health, almost 90 percent of the 14 to 25-year-olds surveyed said they were "good," "very good," or even "excellent." Only a small minority answered "not so good" (9.7 percent) or "bad" (2.8 percent).

That's still too many. But perhaps we should say goodbye to the image of a lost, unhappy generation - fortunately.