By Alix Lilian Castillo Serrano

Psychology student and
Member of the GOYN-Barranquilla Advisory Group

Mental health as a form of resistance in new generations

I've heard many adults say that this generation is difficult to control, that young people today are rebellious, or that they want everything handed to them on a silver platter. These phrases are loaded with stigma and prejudice, but they also reveal a reality: this is a different generation, and that difference shouldn't be automatically interpreted as something negative.

For decades, our culture in Barranquilla, and indeed the entire Caribbean coast, was marked by a silent obedience, almost akin to submission. In García Márquez's literature, the peoples of the Caribbean appear anchored and stagnant in unquestionable traditions, where authority was not questioned and social roles were accepted as a permanent destiny.

Given this cultural heritage, the behavior of new generations cannot be understood solely as rebellion. In many cases, it represents a break with a way of life where questioning was not an option and caring for emotional well-being was not a priority.

In Colombia, and particularly in cities like Barranquilla, mental health is a relatively recent concept. For decades it was associated solely with illness. In recent years, it has begun to be understood as emotional well-being and a social right, especially among younger generations.

Prioritizing emotional well-being and mental health means challenging long-standing traditions, norms, and laws that have gone unchallenged. I'd like to share three specific examples:

1. Decline of traditional gender roles

Our culture is patriarchal; we cannot deny it. Although we have learned and continue in a process of change and breaking down barriers, many women grew up hearing phrases like: “you have to get married before a certain age or you’ll miss your chance,” “you must learn to cook and do housework if you want to find a husband,” or “you can study, but those dreams end when you have children.”

Our grandmothers, aunts, and mothers often endured unhappy and even violent marriages. From the comfort of our present, it's easy to wonder why they didn't divorce. The answer is simple: they couldn't. How would they live? What would society say? In her novel, *En diciembre llegaban las brisas* (In December the Breezes Arrived), the Barranquilla-born writer Marvel Moreno starkly portrays that Barranquilla of the late 20th century, where female subjugation and social hypocrisy were part of the established order.

Today, whether we like it or not, many of those fears and phrases still haunt women. However, more and more women are choosing to prioritize their emotional well-being over what others might say. There are more divorces, but less tolerance for psychological abuse; there are more individual decisions, but less silent suffering; there is more equality and greater empowerment.

These decisions do not arise from mere rebellion or from going against the aunt who asks every Christmas when the marriage will happen, but because many women grew up seeing clear examples of what they did not want to repeat.

2. Rejection of labor exploitation

“Young people don’t want to work anymore,” “this generation can’t handle anything,” “everything seems difficult to them.” These frequently repeated phrases often mask realities such as labor exploitation, rigid work schedules, and low wages—practices that for years were justified by the idea of accepting any job as long as it provided stability.

For much of the 20th century in Colombia, formal salaried employment was consolidated as the ideal of adult life and social security. Various historical analyses indicate that economic stability was associated with remaining in a company, even when this meant accepting inflexible schedules, limited job mobility, and strong subordination to the employer, understanding stability more as a privilege than a right (Banco de la República; El Tiempo).

Today, many young people are questioning that model. Some prefer to start their own businesses, others opt for shorter workdays even if it means lower income. It's not a lack of commitment, but a reconfiguration of priorities. Work to live, not live to work.Quitting jobs that consume personal time deteriorates mental health and makes family life difficult, demonstrating a profound change in the way work is understood, where quality of life and emotional well-being begin to have more value than stability obtained at any cost.

3. Questioning inherited authority and respect

This point may be controversial, but it reflects a clear shift: new generations no longer obey simply for the sake of obeying, nor do they respect solely out of rank or fear. Obedience is built, and respect is earned. For years, bosses and authority figures were placed in an unquestionable position, where every word was taken as an order, even when it conflicted with one's own thoughts and feelings. Suppressing beliefs and reasoning was harmful, but it seemed preferable to social exclusion.

Today, many young people question and ask: Why are things done a certain way? Why aren't alternatives sought? Why must we obey without understanding? This questioning isn't a rebellion without a cause, but rather a different way of inhabiting the world: allowing ideas to emerge, challenge, and open space for creativity and change. When structures remain intact for too long, they tend to become rigid and obsolete.

As several authors from the Colombian Caribbean have described, for decades life unfolded without great expectations or questioning, where time passed without anything truly different seeming to happen, and people learned to live without asking too many questions (Álvaro Cepeda Samudio; Marvel Moreno). In that context, questioning was not a virtue, but a threat to the established order.

Exposing, questioning, and rethinking hierarchies provides personal fulfillment, and that fulfillment allows many young people to find meaning and purpose in their lives, not from blind obedience, but from awareness and choice.

The generational divide hasn't disappeared, but it has transformed. Today, many adults have begun to recognize that change is not only inevitable, but necessary. Mental health issues aren't limited to a specific age; they affect all generations. However, it is young people who have decided to prioritize and defend mental health, even when doing so means challenging traditional structures.

Rejecting imposed gender roles, refusing labor exploitation, and questioning inherited authority figures is not a senseless act of rebellion but a choice for a more dignified life. In doing so, young people have left behind submission, normalized sacrifices, and ways of life that prioritized duty over well-being.

Prioritizing mental health means setting boundaries, breaking harmful traditions, and challenging models that have been maintained for decades out of fear and habit. This is not a fragile or rebellious generation, but a generation that understands that no stability, tradition, or authority is worth more than justice, dignity, and the right to live a peaceful life.

Literature

· Gabriel García Márquez — One Hundred Years of Solitude.

· Gabriel García Márquez — The Autumn of the Patriarch.

· Marvel Moreno — In December the breezes arrived.

· Álvaro Cepeda Samudio — The big house.

· Bank of the Republic of Colombia — studies on labor history in the 20th century.

· El Tiempo — articles and special reports on work and society in Colombia.