Liquid Youth Generation? The New Psychopathological Trajectories of the Post-Modern Society

Abstract

According to Zygmunt Bauman (1999), we are living in an era dominated by a "liquid society". In the liquid society, nothing is clear, defined and fixed “once and for all”. The liquid society imposes high standards, it is highly competitive, and computerized. Obviously, this influences every aspect of life, by indeed incentivizing precarious interpersonal relationships. Our post-modern society is dominated by haste and the absence of stable ties. Within this context, adolescents and young adults should define their identity and, at the same time, should acquire the ability to flexibly redefine it, when necessary. Youth identity is forced to constantly adapt itself according to the changing society. This inevitably exposes young people to new forms of discomfort as well as psychopathologies. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview about the current state-of-the-art of the mental health status of adolescents and young adults in post-modern society, by focusing on seven major themes: digital addiction, effects of media use on behavior and mental-health, social withdrawal, alexithymia, fluid identity, not in education/employment or training people, and self-harm and suicidality.