A survey conducted by the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, headspace, has found that young Australians (hereafter ‘Youths’) between the ages of 12 and 25 are escaping totally boring and stressful family time at Christmas using their mutable and reliably infuriating best friend, Social Media, as a coping mechanism to deflect unwanted and heaps lame familial engagement during the holiday season.
Also, and perhaps more importantly, social media use spikes amongst Youths during this period because they need to share their ‘s0o yumm + #delish’ protein of choice come Christmas Day on their swag feeds.
Today’s Herald are reporting that increasing family tension during the most wonderful time of the year has left The Youths feeling The xx covering Wham!-ed about Christmas; that is, melancholy, with a hint of unrequited longing and yearning, minimal percussion. Some 57% of surveyed Youths reported feeling buoyed by yuletide cheer, while around 88% also admitted to ‘ugh, haaaaating Christmas, because my mum is so embarrassing‘, with 65% accounting for lame family dramas as the cause of seasonal malcontent, just like King Lear or something.
Perhaps even more upsetting is that the number is up from 58% last year.
The study also found that the mere thought of Christmas – of dew-kissed faux reindeer turds and gifted beer cases full of bricks left by cruel siblings under the tree [happened], of stomachs bloated and stockings deflated, and of inappropriate uncles more sauced than all the condiments – actually made 24% of surveyed Youths feel legitimately depressed.
Twenty-eight per cent also reported feeling worse than usual at this time of year.
An overwhelming – or underwhelming; perhaps just whelming – 86% said they’d be using The Social Medias on Christmas Day to either escape boring family interaction which everyone knows is just the worst or to feel less forever alone-ly; even – no, especially – while being smothered by the cloying embrace of all the people with whom we used to share this once joyous time in our lives, and now we hardly even know at all.
Merry Christmas, Young Adults.
