So, according to the American Psychological Association (APA), millennials experience more stress and are less able to manage it than any other generation. What's up with that? Millennials have been found to be more anxious than older Americans. The APA reports that 12% of millennials have a diagnosed anxiety disorder—almost twice the percentage their Boomer counterparts.

On a non-clinical scale, a BDA Morneau Shepell white paper revealed that 30% of working millennials have general anxiety, while a 2014 American College Health Association (ACHA) assessment found that anxiety regularly afflicts 61% of college students. In my work with college students, I have found this to be an accurate representation. Anxiety and stress sabotage my students' productivity and academic performance. Some sources of millennial anxiety may be due to a tough job market, student debt, as well as psychological causes. Some psychological causes that I have seen in my practice are issues such as ambition addiction, career crises, and choice-overload. However, even more simple day-to-day behaviors can trigger anxiety. Here are some reasons that I've witnessed why 20-somethings are so anxious:

• Constant use of social media. On average, millennials spend 3.2 hours a day on their phone. That adds up to almost a full day of each week that 20-somethings are glued to their personal glowing rectangle. Many of us are obsessed with Facebook, Twitter, Gmail, Instagram, and Snapchat, and we often report that we feel the need to be plugged in at all times. But millennials have this belief worst of all with 93 percent of them admitting that they regularly use their phones in bed at night, while 80 percent of the group are on their phones in the bathroom. The continuous use of social media incites the behavior of constantly comparing oneself to other people. The more time we spend looking through everyone else's lives, the more we begin to believe that we're not good enough.
• Instability of work and finances. In the survey conducted by the APA, researchers found that job stability and money were two of the primary things millennials get anxious about. So, yeah, wiser generation, it's not because millennials are lazy and can't keep a full-time job; rather, many of them happened to be graduating college just as the economy collapsed, so they weren't left with the best options. Maybe during that time millennials had trouble finding work or got laid off unexpectedly. Whatever the case may be, millennials surely haven't had it easy when it comes to careers. Furthermore, a person's 20s aren't the most financially stable decade of their life. Millennials are often stuck paying hefty student loans while at the same time attempting to pay their huge rents. Increasingly common is the fact that one in every five young adults are financially supporting an aging parent, and these young people are spending an average of $18,250 a year doing so. And the cherry on top of it all — they simply are unable to save much money.
• A healthcare system that does not recognize psychological issues often enough. The 2013 APA study found that 33 percent of highly stressed Americans had never discussed their anxiety with their medical provider. When young adults see their doctor, they're typically either feeling very sick or they're just there for a simple check up. It seems as though it doesn't occur to young people to go see a doctor for the sole purpose of discussing their struggles with anxiety, which in return results in a lot of anxiety disorders going undiagnosed. If we taught the our kids that stress and anxiety need to be treated the same way as any other problem in our body, we'd probably have a new generation more comfortable with the idea of seeking out care for their mental health.
• Millennials are not leading very healthy lifestyles. Sure, Millennials don't drink alcohol and do drugs any more than any other age group in America, but that doesn't mean there aren't any issues with how much they misuse substances. When we're young, people often tend to feel kinda invincible, so they believe that they can party often and bounce back quickly. That mindset can be pretty destructive, though — drinking a lot and using drugs can make your stress and anxiety spike through the roof, especially if you're not eating a healthy diet on a daily basis. It's important to exercise regularly, eat whole foods, and stay away from using substances to self-medicate. Instead of partying on the regular, get involved in the community and help others. You'll feel empowered, like you can really have a positive impact on the world instead of being a victim of it.

People with bipolar disorder experience episodes of both mania (an exceptionally elevated, irritable, or energetic mood) and depression. These episodes can be separate or depressed and manic symptoms may occur at the same time as symptoms of depression. The frequency of episodes varies. At least four depressive, manic, hypomanic (mild form of mania) or mixed episodes within a year is known as rapid-cycling bipolar disorder.

During the early stages of a manic episode, people can be very happy, productive and creative. They have less need for sleep and don’t feel tired. There is some evidence that many well-known creative people suffer or have suffered from bipolar disorder. But this link may be caused by an unknown third factor, such as temperament.

In our culture, bipolar disorder has the tendency to be romanticized by its association with creative types, but many sufferers’ experience of the illness is far from glamourous. Patients report getting to the point where they can’t function and sometimes need to be hospitalized, especially if they don’t take their medication as prescribed.

At the same time, however, at the start of a manic episode, a person might make lots of plans because the world seems full of opportunity. Individuals report that they feel high, they meet a lot of new friends, they'll go on shopping sprees and spend all their money, and sometimes they say that they even feel invincible. When prescribed, medication can remove or dull the experience of mania. A person experiencing mania may not like that their high mood and productivity is compromised, so they stop taking their medication.

So... is there something about the manic or in-between episodes of bipolar disorder that can be conducive to creative expression in some people?

Researchers at the University of California-San Francisco noted, “It is well-established that people with affective disorders tend to be overrepresented in the creative artist population (especially those with bipolar disorder). Bipolar disorder may carry certain advantages for creativity, especially in those who have milder symptoms.”

Oftentimes, people living with bipolar disorder report that they are at their most creative and productive when feeling most healthy. For example, the poet Sylvia Plath, who is widely believed to have had bipolar disorder, said that when she was writing she was accessing the healthiest part of herself.

In 2005, a study tried to unravel the relationship between writer Virginia Woolf’s creativity and her mental illness, which was most likely bipolar disorder. The psychiatrist Gustavo Figueroa of the University of Valparaiso, Chile, writes, “She was moderately stable as well as exceptionally productive from 1915 until she committed suicide in 1941.

“Virginia Woolf created little or nothing while she was unwell, and was productive between attacks.” But, “A detailed analysis of her own creativity over the years shows that her illnesses were the source of material for her novels.”

It does seem that for those who are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, creativity can offer a powerful means of expression.

Figueroa, C. G. Virginia Woolf as an example of a mental disorder and artistic creativity. Revista Medica de Chile, Vol. 133, November 2005, pp. 1381-88.

Liu, A. et al. A Case Study of an Emerging Visual Artist with Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. Neurocase, Vol. 15, June 2009, pp. 235-47.
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