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Sinek’s sentiments have had their share of criticism. Crystal Kadakia in her
2017 think piece ‘Why Millennials Can’t Stand Simon Sinkel’s Viral Interview on
Millennials’ wrote: “Every generation is more entitled than the previous generation.
The bottom line is that Gen. X and Boomer ‘viral’ voices have a tendency to
stereotype the entire generation based on simple phrases with little understanding
of the deeper complexities and diversities of the generation.”
She asserted, “It is easier to throw blame and say the Millennials don’t know what
they really want when in reality, no one has figured out what all of society wants in
today’s digital world. Digital is the change. We need to walk in a Millennial’s shoes
or we have no chance of understanding Gen Z.”
As the academic and commercial debates rage on, a real-life crisis deepens.
In 2017, 970 million people across the globe had a mental or substance use disorder.
264 million suffered from depression and 284 million had anxiety disorders. One in
six people have one or more mental or substance abuse disorders. For an individual
with depression, the risk of suicide is 20 times higher than an individual without.
Mental health and behavioural problems such as depression, anxiety and drug use
are reported to be the primary drivers of disability worldwide, causing over 40
million years of disability in 20 to 29-year-olds.
Mental health has an impact on an individual’s wellbeing. The ‘disease burden’–
measured in Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) considers not only the
mortality associated with a disorder but also years lived with a disability or health
burden. Mental and substance use disorders accounted for around 5 percent of the
global disease burden in 2017.
Major depression is also a major contributor to suicide and ischemic heart disease.
One person in fifteen has made a suicide attempt at some point in their life.
In Zambia, thousands of young people are battling mental health disorders on
a daily basis. The suicide rate has skyrocketed, leaving wounded, scarred and
confused families in its wake.
The questions are numerous; the answers few. That life is painful is the only reality
known to those still alive and struggling and no dissected dialogue, theories,
arguments or counterarguments can change that fact.
Culturally, mental health is not treated with the seriousness that it should. Although
strides have been made to raise awareness, train health personnel and make therapy
available to those who need it, we are still lagging behind as a country. Government
institutions are understaffed, under-resourced and not all their personnel are
qualified to handle complex mental health problems. Private practices seem to
distance themselves from the masses by charging exorbitant fees that only high-
end clientele can afford.
For the Millennials, perhaps the question isn’t so much “Why are we crazy?” but
“Why aren’t we getting the help that we need?”

Sources
Hanna Ritchi and Max Roser, Our World In Data
Mental Health Foundation
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