SUBSCRIBE NOW

SIGHT

Be informed. Be challenged. Be inspired.

“THE CONNECTED GENERATION”: FOR ANXIOUS YOUNG ADULTS, RELIGION CAN BE A WELLNESS TOOL, SAYS STUDY

Millennials research 1

EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, explores the preliminary findings of a new global study of young people’s attitudes while Sight’s DAVID ADAMS speaks to World Vision Australia’s Jill Roche about some of the early results…

RNS

Lieryn Barnett sometimes is so depressed, all she wants to do is sleep, she said. 

Other times, she’s so full of energy, she’ll be up in the middle of the night, singing or playing guitar. Or her mind will race at the same time her body won’t have the energy to do anything. 

All are symptoms of the bipolar disorder Barnett was diagnosed with when she was an adolescent.

Medication and therapy have helped her deal with the condition, the 29-year-old said.

So has her faith. 

“Christ gives your life value, purpose, hope and eternal security. Without that hope I probably would not be here today,” said Barnett, a member of Two Cities Church in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who has written about her experiences with bipolar disorder, depression and anxiety.

Millennials research 1

A young man prays during a 16th Street Baptist Church service on 10th December, 2017, in Birmingham, Alabama. PICTURE: AP Photo/Brynn Anderson.

A new study by the Christian research firm Barna Group suggests that Barnett may not be alone in her anxiety – or in finding that faith can be an asset when dealing with mental health concerns.

“The church and institutions of faith need to be emotionally connected and places that are able to handle the kinds of emotional, mental health, anxiety-oriented questions that this generation is bringing to them,” Barna President David Kinnaman said. 

RESEARCH FINDINGS OPEN OPPORTUNITY FOR GREATER ENGAGEMENT WITH 18 TO 35s, SAYS WORLD VISION AUSTRALIA’S JILL ROCHE 

For Jill Roche, chief of corporate affairs at World Vision Australia, one of the most striking results of the research that she’s seen to date is the number of those polled who felt that they weren’t deeply cared for by those around them with the study revealing just 33 per cent of respondents felt this was the case.

“There’s this sense of loneliness that exists and, you know, I think about my own children – I have twins who are turning 30 in October – and I think about their lifestyle and the connection that they have with their group [and] this really triggered for me a need to have a conversation, to dig down beneath the surface of what looked like a highly engaged lifestyle to see what’s sitting underneath that and are they experiencing the same sort of anxiety and sense of loneliness that came through from these results.”

She says the findings show that the assumption that 18 to 35s, as they navigate the world of social media, may not have a “lot of depth”, the research shows “these are deep thinking people who want to make a difference in the world, who are connected with world issues, but haven’t found the way to have that personal connection, in the sense of community, beyond the social media”.

“And therein lies the opportunity for organisations like World Vision where you can bring ‘deep’ to the table, if you like, for younger people to engage in but also for the church to create that sense of community, that sense of connection, that sense of higher order purpose, that will hopefully enrich the lives of these young people beyond what they’re experiencing today.”

 

Jill Roche

JilL Roche, chief of corporate affairs at World Vision Australia. PICTURE: Supplied.

 

Another key finding among early results, she says, was the level of “spiritual openness” that can be found among those surveyed.

“More than half of the people polled felt like religion is good for people and for society and so sometimes, I think, particularly in a secualr context like Australia, we might make assumptions about whether or not there is some openness or some willingness to connect with faith. And this provides some really helpful pointers.”

Roche says World Vision decided to partner with Barna in conducting the study (and another partner organisation in Australia is Alpha Australia), to gain a better understanding of the “mindset” of millennials.

“Rather than trying to guess or make assumptions about what it is that motivates this group of people, we really wanted to invest to find out and to draw insights that we could use to help shape and shepherd our work but also that we could then share with the church,” she says.

“Because World Vision views the church as an indispensible partner – we are part of the same family and we face the same sorts of challenges in terms of wanting to engage younger people in justice [issues] and taking action to address world poverty. So we felt if we could draw insights that gave us a global perspective but could also be contextually relevant – so we could dig down into the Australian context, for example, if we could get those insights and then share those with the church, we potentially amplify the power our response…and could work together in engaging this cohort of 18 to 35s.”

The full results of the research are being released in Australia at a series of public events featuring Barna’s David Kinnaman, Mark Sayers, senior leader of Red Church, and Melinda Dwight, national director of Alpha Australia, being held in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney from 22nd to 24th October. For tickets, head to www.worldvision.com.au/faith-for-the-future.

The study, released on 10th September, is the research firm’s largest and its first global look at what it calls “the connected generation” — those from 18 to 35.

In partnership with Christian relief agency World Vision, Barna surveyed 15,369 people from 25 countries, including people from a range of faiths and people with no faith affiliation. The survey was conducted in nine languages. 

It found that four in 10 young adults in the countries surveyed report they often feel anxious about important decisions, uncertain about the future or afraid to fail.

Additionally, 28 per cent of young adults report that they often feel sad or depressed. Of the countries that were surveyed, the United States had the highest number of respondents who felt this way: 39 per cent.

And 22 per cent of young adults in the study report they often feel insecure in their identity.

One in five young adults surveyed met Barna’s definition of “anxious,” according to the research firm.  That means those respondents selected three of these four statements: “anxious about important decisions,” “sad or depressed,” “afraid to fail” and “insecure in who I am”.  

The study did not address questions of clinical depression or anxiety, which require the assistance of mental health professions. 

“You can see that there is this low-grade anxiety that this generation is trying to work through,” Kinnaman said.

Religion can help with that, the Barna president said. 

People of faith are less likely to select any of those statements, according to Barna data. Meanwhile, those who claim no faith are more likely to select them.

For instance, 37 per cent of respondents who identify as atheist, agnostic or none report they often feel sad or depressed, compared with 23 per cent of Christians and 26 per cent of people of other faiths.

Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, who spoke with Barna as it was compiling its report, sees that “low-grade anxiety” in the young adults she mentors. 

Sistrunk Robinson – a speaker, coach and consultant – said some of the anxiety comes from the pressure that young adults put on themselves. Young adults are also dealing with questions of gender and race, she said. 

Then there is the ever-present nature of technology, which has left young adults constantly bombarded by news and comparing their lives to others’ carefully curated social media presences.

Previous generations may have navigated one or two of those challenges, she said.

“But now you’re trying to navigate all of that at once,” she said. 

Sistrunk Robinson also knows that genetic factors play a role in anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses – and that dealing with mental illness often requires professional help.

She didn’t always see things that way. In the past, she’s encouraged young people dealing with mental illness to “pray and go to church and have faith”.

Now she realises that’s not enough. 

“I think, as people of faith, we have to be very clear that some people need medical attention,” she said.

The world has come a long way in its understanding of mental health since the 1990s, according to Rabbi David-Seth Kirshner of Temple Emanu-El in Closter, New Jersey. That’s when his brother died by suicide after struggling with mental illness

Kirshner said he can’t look past the first row of his congregation without seeing someone dealing with mental health challenges in some way — and it’s not just young adults.

“Regardless of where you are socioeconomically, what your background is, no one is immune to it,” he said.

“Everyone’s dealing with it in some fashion or another, and ways that we can show other people they’re not alone and give tools to help mitigate the crisis they’re dealing with, I think, are critical to making forward progress.” 

Religion has a role to play for those dealing with anxiety and other mental health issues, according to the rabbi.

A faith community can gather around a person who is ill, either physically or mentally, to provide support, Kirshner said. Time spent at the synagogue can be a refuge from the hectic pace of everyday life.

Prayer can help as well, he said. 

Barna Anxiety Graph

Kirshner pointed to what he called the “get well” prayer Jews have prayed for generations, which he translated as saying, “We pray for this person to have a healing of their body and the healing of their soul and mind.”

Religion also can give people a sense of identity and belonging, according to Kameelah Rashad of the Muslim Wellness Foundation.

Faith always is intertwined with culture, Rashad said. She has found in her work with black Muslim young adults that “Islam is foundational to their understanding of themselves.”

“They would say, ‘I have this two sort of targeted and marginalised identities, but I also feel that God made me this way intentionally,” she said. “Because I am who I am, I can be someone who actually helps build bridges and communities. I can be someone who empathises with other marginalised communities.”

There’s a feeling that “God has my back,” that there is wisdom to be gained from the experiences they have, she said.

That sense of community and identity have been important for Barnett.

“Mental illness is something that I have, not who I am. My identity is found in Christ,” she said.

She often worries about disclosing her illness to others outside her church, she said. There, she feels she can be open about her struggles.  

Nobody treats her differently there unless it is to offer help when they know she is struggling. Her pastor has started to name mental illnesses from the pulpit. And she feels freed by a theology that makes clear nobody is perfect.

And millennials, like Barnett, are leading the way in talking about mental health and breaking the stigma.

“If you are brave enough, share your struggles — I guarantee you aren’t the only one in your church,” she said.

Barna Anxiety Graph2

Other findings of Barna’s study, titled The Connected Generation, include:

• Three-quarters (77 per cent) of young adults surveyed say events around the world matter to them, and more than half (57 per cent) report they feel connected to people around the world.

• Few feel connected to those closest to them: Only one in three (33 per cent) report they often feel deeply cared for by those around them. A similar number (32 per cent) report they often feel somebody believes in them.

• More than half of those surveyed report religion is good for people (57 per cent) and important to society (53 per cent). 

• Christian young adults aren’t convinced the church has answers to all their questions. Nearly half (47 per cent) of those with some connection to Christianity say it cannot answer all their questions.

The survey was conducted online between 4th December, 2018, and 15th February, requiring both literacy and an internet connection for young adults to participate. The margin of error is one per cent, according to Barna.

 

Donate



sight plus logo

Sight+ is a new benefits program we’ve launched to reward people who have supported us with annual donations of $26 or more. To find out more about Sight+ and how you can support the work of Sight, head to our Sight+ page.

Musings

TAKE PART IN THE SIGHT READER SURVEY!

We’re interested to find out more about you, our readers, as we improve and expand our coverage and so we’re asking all of our readers to take this survey (it’ll only take a couple of minutes).

To take part in the survey, simply follow this link…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.