Photo by CNN.

It’s easy to point to smartphones, Instagram, TikTok, gaming, and the constant need to stay connected and say, “That’s the problem.”

In my opinion, the situation is much more complicated.

Technology can entirely generate new kinds of pressure. The constant need to compare oneself with other people’s lives, the habit of endlessly scrolling through content, being subjected to cyberbullying, coming across harmful material, receiving notifications, being shown content through algorithms, and using screens late at night can all affect one’s well-being. Research also indicates that the relationship works both ways: a person already experiencing difficulties may end up spending more time online. At the same time, particular patterns of online behavior can make those difficulties worse.

Meanwhile, technology can also offer people connections, communities, educational opportunities, access to information, chances to be creative, and support that some young people might not find outside the internet. That is why it is not enough to say that ‘social media is bad simply’.

Pressures also exist that have nothing to do with the phone screen: financial insecurity, the high cost of living, uncertainty about careers, housing, work stress, social isolation, and anxiety about the future are all part of the environment Gen Z is growing up in.

According to Deloitte’s 2025 survey, over 80% of the respondents who were Gen Z or millennials stated that their everyday finances and their long-term financial future caused them stress or anxiety.

Perhaps the more appropriate question is not “Is technology to blame for Gen Z’s mental health issues?”

Perhaps we have created a certain kind of environment for this generation.

Technology is part of that environment and, in fact, a significant part of it. However, blaming the problem solely on the device may keep us from noticing everything else happening around it.

The answer isn’t to get rid of technology altogether, but to build healthier relationships with it-by setting better boundaries, improving our digital literacy, getting more sleep, spending more time away from screens, using safer platforms, and better understanding how algorithms compete for our attention.

Technology should be a tool we can control, not an environment that controls us.