Manifesting or false hope: With over 100 million posts, is this popular treatment causing more harm than good for Gen-Z?
With 1 in 3 young adults experiencing symptoms of mental disorders, the question over whether this form of therapy is causing further damage rises among experts.
Manifestation is a word that has been circulating on social media in recent years, many of us most likely coming across it on our feeds during our doom scrolls, particularly since the Covid-19 pandemic with Google searches for ‘manifesting’ rising by 600% as of 2020. This form of self-help treatment has gone beyond the point of a social media trend, now transitioning into a way of life for a vast number of people, particularly younger adults within the Gen-Z demographic. However, with mental health cases of a drastic rise amongst this generation post-Covid, we have entered a mental health crisis, with referrals for young adults between 2020 and 2023 increasing by over 50%. Parallel to this increase was the rise in self-help methods on social media, including manifestation - but what is it?
Psychology expert Dr Lucas Dixon (Ph.D) defines the self-help form of therapy as, “the ability to cosmically attract success in life through positive self-talk, visualization, and symbolic actions”. What started as a social media trend for so many has turned into a method to improve mental well-being as their outlook on life and their future became bleak due to the pandemic. Where, from the outside, this can look like a healthy, rational form of self-medication, the question as to whether the popular trend amongst Gen-Z is doing more harm than good is prominent, but how can this self-help craze be dangerous for this digital generation and why this generation specifically?
Why is manifestation so appealing for Gen-Z?
As of May 2023, TikTok videos containing ‘manifestation’ have amassed over 34.6 billion views, its appeal to the Gen-Z user demographic of the platform clearly being significant. The impact the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns had on the mental well-being of this generation was significant, arguably being the most impacted generation - hence the 3 million spike in long-term mental health conditions within this demographic. Covid has been shown to go beyond a ‘temporary’ crisis, its consequences forming a mental health pandemic where young adults are the primary victims. With the long waiting list for referrals because of this significant increase, this digital native generation has resorted into taking matters into their own hands to improve their outlook on the future that has been shaded by Covid, resulting in the increase in self-help book sales and, most of all, self-help trends on social media. With its ease, inexpensiveness and accessibility to all, manifestation searches and posts skyrocketed - particularly on TikTok and Instagram - beginning as a highly aesthetic trend of collecting crystals, positive affirmations and ‘design your journal with me’ turned into a coping mechanism and form of therapy for Gen-Z users.
The need to make ‘aesthetically-pleasing’ content on social media is a consistent pressure for so many young adults, which manifesting adheres to, so it doesn’t come as much of a surprise why such an appearance-obsessed generation jumped onto this self-help method. The idea that we can have anything we dream of and can achieve anything ‘is we manifest it’ would also explain its rise in popularity; this questionable theory method promising this generation that desperately need a sense of positivity about the future they can have anything they want; telling them they can take control of the uncontrollable and finding positives in negative situations. Needless to say, the luring aspect of ‘I don’t chase, I attract’ within positive visualisation can be very flawed and easily lead to delusion if used incorrectly.
Why is manifestation being criticised?
In an interview with psychology academic and president of the Psychology Society at Oxford Brookes University, Ziya Vora, she discussed how manifestation, if used incorrectly, can be harmful to your mental wellbeing, suggesting that, “Everyone wants to see something in their lives…sadly that’s one of the reasons why they get so attracted to manifestation”. The visual and promising aspects that positive visualisation portrays to Gen-Z are a leading selling point. Ziya also discussed how:
“Manifestation is more like a mind game. If you do it negatively, it could have the wrong effects on your mind, and then overall, your behaviour and wellness.”
Dr Lucas Dixon supports Ziya’s comments with his research, finding how manifestation can lead to false hope, victim blaming and unrealistic levels of success; these limitations potentially resulting in a worsened mental state for the Gen-Z social media users that are highly susceptible to consuming manifestation content and taking part in it themselves. As well as this, with worrying rise in mental health cases within this demographic, makes them more susceptible to consume this content and potentially fall victim to the limitations that Ziya and Dr Lucas explored; their conformity to popular social media trends as well as the desperation to feel a sense of positivity about their future resulting in an unhealthy reliance to this, arguably, false hope-promoting treatment and worsening conditions like depression and anxiety.
Dr Lucas and Ziya’s beliefs surrounding the use of manifestation for mental health as well as research by the Newport Institute argue that attempting to manifest change in our lives can result in a negative impact on our mental state, especially those who suffer from existing mental health conditions who use positive visualisation as a form of self-help treatment. While it may create an optimistic outlook on life and the future, it can also lead the belief that our future can be entirely controlled by us and our thoughts, or even inanimate objects such as crystals (which rose in popularity alongside manifestation post-pandemic), this unhealthy reliance proving a dangerous aspect this trendy well being ‘remedy’.
Is manifestation entirely negative?
Where this form of therapy may hold worrying aspects for younger adults who have existing mental conditions, if used correctly and alongside other treatments, it could prove effective and positive too. Suppose you’re aware that you cannot change the entire trajectory of your future and personal experiences through positive visualisation. In that case, it can be used to promote positivity, self-love and optimism. Student and regular manifester Harriet Hassle expressed her experiences manifesting post-pandemic:
Where manifestation has its potentially harmful and conflicting effects on mental health among Gen-Z, its social media popularity could be positive too - as shown by Harriet - if used correctly, rationally and alongside other treatments. Its ability to give a positive and optimistic outlook for the future can help the post-pandemic mindset of this generation that we are still seeing the long term effects of, but manifestation should not be seen as a remedy but simply as a support network in day-to-day life.