The two faces of Gen Z in Bulgaria: What distinguishes teenagers from other young people – Young Bulgaria

Professor Orlin Todorov is a psychoanalyst and therapist. He majored in Philosophy of Language at Trinity College, Oxford.

He works with children and adolescents with difficulties in mental development, borderline states and the organization of identity, as well as with patients with psychotic functioning. He has many years of experience and expertise in the psychotherapy of addictions and people with dual and multiple mental disorders.

He also has experience as a senior psychotherapist, consultant and supervisor of various treatment teams and has consistently participated in the development of psychoanalysis in our country as a clinical practice and as an academic discipline. He is the author of several books on psychoanalysis. He is one of the bright minds of Bulgaria, whom we invited to analyze the “Young Bulgaria” generation. For the second year now, “Boulevard Bulgaria” researches girls and boys between the ages of 16 and 25 with the idea that they will be the next backbone of society – with their decisions, ambitions, dreams and a look into the future.

Everything is for the benefit of the young. At least on a cellular and organic level.

With them, everything goes up, multiplies, connects and acquires a new quality. If it weren’t for mental health problems, young people under 25 would be almost absent from health care statistics.

By comparison, in people around the age of 30, metabolism slows down, bone density and skin elasticity decrease, and there are a host of other health issues.

Genetics, supported by stress and dangerous habits, are quite likely to lead to more serious diseases as the years go by. It’s good that the brain until the end of life can create new neural connections between its approximately 80 billion neurons.

But despite some obvious advantages of youth, “the world does not belong entirely to them.” A great thing is the balance in nature and society.

Young people are at a disadvantage in terms of social and financial status.

And while they are optimistic and more often high in self-esteem, they are early in their careers, in the middle of identity formation, and in healthy vacillation and uncertainty about a number of important things, including the basic evolutionary problem of continuing. of the species.

This common conflict can be expressed as – they are the young and the beautiful, the energetic and the enterprising, but the money and social positions are found in the generation of their parents and forefathers, who today are living longer and healthier.

And if the young learn faster, withstand more stress and are generally “cool” in terms of their marketing metrics – susceptible to innovation, loyal to brands with a strong identity and, ultimately, healthy shoppers – the big themes remain.

How, when and how much will they socialize? Will they accept societal values ​​and lifestyles established by previous generations, or will they revolutionize and hysterize the world until they take it over?

How will they complete the process of building their own identity after being torn by contradictions between their personal growth and the powerful psychic and societal pressures leading to “normal conformity”?

Will they tame or remain risky players?

How much will marijuana, screen time, and addictive social media alter their brains and influence attitudes like conservatism or sedentism?

What role will education, media, technology, ideologies (from religion to subcultural trends), love and sex, battles for power and prestige play in these processes?

Unlike people in mature age the young humans (in this study, individuals between the ages of 16-25) are still in the process of developing, growing, and establishing almost everything that defines us as stable “social animals.”

Let’s make another important clarification.

If for a more generalized sociology it makes sense to talk about youth in this wide age range, from the point of view of health, psychology, law, culture, economy, etc. is we must distinguish at least two groups:

• adolescents (teenagers between 10 and 18 years old)
• and youth (young adults between the ages of 19 and 26).

Here are some of the important differences between these two groups – apart from the obvious that one cannot legally buy alcohol, check into a hotel and take out loans…

Regarding health

Juniors: They are increasingly experiencing health problems such as obesity, insomnia, mental disorders (anxiety, depression, eating disorders) and risky behavior (dangerous sexual practices or abuse of substances and digital devices, driving without a license).

Young people: Statistics on health problems here are often incomplete, but include cardiovascular, mental (including related to crime and anti-social behaviour), blood-borne diseases and reproductive health difficulties.

Juniors: Experimentation with alcohol and drugs begins in adolescence, with studies showing that a significant proportion of people who may become addicted try substances before the age of 18.

Young people: Problems like drinking alcohol and using recreational drugs may be widespread and this seems normal, but this is also the time of chronic use.

Regarding psychology

Juniors: Key psychological topics are identity formation, peer influence, and emotional regulation. The frequency of mood disorders and self-esteem problems are prominently represented in this period.

Young people: Psychological challenges include establishing independence, accepting adult responsibilities, managing stress, and developing coping mechanisms for new social roles.

Regarding pregnancy

It is part of health and social life, but here we will look at it through psychology.

Juniors: There is rarely awareness on this topic and this best illustrates the contradiction between drives and mental maturity. Teenage pregnancy rates vary worldwide, but may be higher in some regions.

Young people: The pregnancy rate actually declines as people enter young adulthood. Family planning and conscious parenting are becoming more common. However, this is the mild expression of the effects of longer-lasting immaturity and narcissistic insecurity in the young.

In terms of neurobiology

Juniors: Development of the brain, especially the prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, continues until about the 20s. It is associated with increased risk-taking behavior and impulsivity. The breakdown of old neural connections, circadian rhythm changes, and device use are the vicious cycle of adolescent insomnia. The consequences are particularly serious for emotional regulation, learning ability, attention and memory.

Young people: Neurobiological maturation of the cortex, contributes to the improvement of executive functions, supporting better decision-making and impulse control. Not everything is rosy, of course, epilepsy rarely starts during this period, but schizophrenia is most often triggered*.

Can we end smartphone childhood?

Intelligence and learning

Juniors: Cognitive abilities, including abstract thinking and problem solving, develop rapidly. Adolescents show a serious capacity for complex reasoning, but their lacking in experience and social wisdom. Therefore, despite the successes of the Olympiads, they rarely have serious scientific achievements.

Young people: Although cognitive abilities generally stabilize, further (higher) education and social experience contribute to continued intellectual development in some individuals. Or lead to a categorical rejection of such development.

This comparison could go on for a long time. I have not said a word about cultural preferences, about spending free time (if they have it at this age?) about habits, knowledge about themselves and the world. The questions and answers in this study can give us some interesting data about all this.

However, there is also one common similarity between the teenagers and the young people of Young Bulgaria, and that is that this is the first generation born with opportunities.

Their parents have much more financial resources compared to the parents of Millennials or Gen Xers. This is what makes them so different from others who grew up and formed as individuals with the “absence” of communism or with the hyperinflation of the transition. It’s also the big red line that says why “they” aren’t like “us”.

* According to WHO data, schizophrenia is most often triggered in late adolescence and young adulthood in nearly 1 in 222 people.