Numb by Necessity

Are we really living—or slowly shutting down just to survive?

This isn’t just a feeling. Across the Philippines and the world, young people are grappling with rising stress, worsening mental health, and a creeping emotional numbness that blurs the line between hope and resignation.

A 2021 survey by the Philippine Statistics Authority reported that 20.9% of Filipino youth experienced moderate to severe depressive symptoms, nearly double the 9.6% recorded in 2013. Globally, the World Health Organization notes that depression and anxiety among people aged 15–24 are rising sharply, intensified by social, economic, and political pressures.

At the same time, academic burnout, especially in post-pandemic contexts is not just a catchphrase. When young people are stressed just to survive, civic engagement takes a backseat. They may stop voting, questioning authority, or participating in community initiatives, not because they don’t care, but because caring feels exhausting.

When everyday life feels like a marathon of stress, financial instability, political polarization, and systemic neglect, caring deeply becomes taxing. Emotional burnout, a clinical response where the mind numbs itself to protect against overwhelming pressure doesn’t look dramatic. It feels like a quiet detachment “I don’t care enough to try.” What starts as stress turns into apathy, what begins as disappointment morphs into cynicism.

And the consequences are real. Studies suggest that when young people disengage, civic participation drops, leaving society vulnerable to manipulation and weakening democratic accountability. Declining youth participation in politics and society allows corruption to persist, weakens democratic accountability, and makes social reform harder.

But here’s the truth we often miss, apathy isn’t the absence of care, it’s the exhaustion of it. Young people aren’t indifferent; they are overwhelmed.

To heal, we must acknowledge where we stand, not fully living, not merely surviving, but suspended in a limbo of burnout and disillusionment. Recovery doesn’t start with blind optimism, it starts with structural support, mental health investment, genuine political inclusion, and a shared belief that small actions still have power. We are at a crossroads, continue merely surviving, or start living and caring again.