Zeminar: a forum focused on wellbeing of 15-20 year olds

Mental and physical wellbeing among the 15- to 20-year-old cohort of Generation Z is under the spotlight at a national youth seminar at the RDS in Dublin from Tuesday, October 11th, until Friday. Zeminar is the brainchild of 34-year-old Damien Clarke, who volunteers for Foróige and is working on a doctorate in counselling psychology at Trinity.

As well as welcoming young people, Zeminar is open to teachers, mentors and parents. The event, which Clarke is optimistically hoping will be attended by 20,000 people, is a social enterprise designed to bring all those invested in the development and wellbeing of young people in Ireland to one place. It includes a section on career advice, but it is just one of the eight designated zones.

The Zeminar programme is in response to research from mental health organisation Jigsaw, formerly Headstrong, which found that anxiety, stress, sleep issues, cyber bullying and isolation are main difficulties hindering academic and personal growth. These factors, in conjunction with fast-moving technology, academic pressures, unhealthy diets and ever-changing career options present a complex and challenging environment for young people to navigate.

There are 75 speakers addressing the Zeminar, including mental health advocate, Niall Breslin (Bressie); master of the National Maternity Hospital and mother-of-four Dr Rhona Mahony; rugby star Jamie Heaslip; campaigner for the homeless and vulnerable Fr Peter McVerry; addiction specialist Senator Frances Black; Chris Flack from Unplug, a company that runs retreats and corporate programmes on "tech-life balance"; Elijah Lawal from Google; and former Rose of Tralee Maria Walsh.

Living authentically

Clarke, who gave up a career in marketing because it didn’t satisfy him, he says, is all about living authentically and taking care of wellbeing. “I think there’s a movement now among people in Ireland to address their wellbeing. People seem to be taking it a lot more seriously than previous generations. Mental health is such a growing part of the curriculum in schools. A lot of people are doing great work around it. We’re simply presenting people with more opportunities to connect with specialists in mental health organisations. Workshops will be taking place at the Zeminar where young people can learn new skills to help them live happier lives.”

Breslin, who stresses that he’s not a specialist, will be speaking about his journey from intense anxiety to a calmer state and encouraging people to prioritise their mental health.

“I always say to people that if you can’t dedicate 10 or 15 minutes a day to your mind, then there’s nothing anyone in this world can do for you.” He says that modern society “is not sustainable if you don’t rest your mind”.

The constant feed of news, most often bad news, can lead to fearfulness and anxiety, he believes.

“To really engage with your mind doesn’t take a huge amount of effort. It just takes habit. Forget about gyms and diets if you’re not starting with your brain. I practise mindfulness twice a day, before I get up in the morning and always in the evening. All my life, the evenings were associated with anxiety. I know now that I will be unable to reduce my anxiety levels unless I calm myself and relax. Relaxing is the Holy Grail.

Toxic people

“The thing about stress is that it’s quite subjective and you need to understand what your triggers are. My trigger is toxic people, being around people who bitch and tear other people apart. I stay away from that. It might make me appear anti-social but it’s not. It’s positive selfishness.”

Breslin says fear of failure is corrosive. “Don’t fear it. Don’t let it dictate what you want to do. Don’t take on other people’s idea of success. I did that and it really messed me up. If a child or teenager has a passion that mightn’t be the passion their parents would like, the parents should really try to nurture it and promote it and not repress it. Passion is a powerful thing.”

As a parent of four children ranging from 10 to 18, Mahony is concerned about online safety. She will speak on the subject on Thursday. “I have no idea about growing up online. How do we stop people from over-sharing information when they communicate online?”

She points to the importance of keeping young people “safe from people who may not have good intention”.

“We also need to look at things like sex education. Young people growing up are learning about sex through pornography which is hardwiring a generation to have some very odd ideas surrounding sex. Also, there’s the whole idea of intimacy. If I meet someone directly and say something horrible to them, I have to suffer the consequences. But with so much of our communication done online [young people] are not learning the tools to support intimacy. How do we help people create healthy human relationships?”

Life experience

Mahony acknowledges the positive educational aspects of the online world but has various concerns. “As a mother, I’m right in the middle of it. Like all parents, I really want to connect but you have to acknowledge that you’ll never be fully connected. And your children have to have independence; they have to grow up. You can only equip them. You can’t prevent them from life experience. Your best bet is to be able to equip your children to deal with the curve balls that life throws.”

Mahony says that when she was doing the Leaving Cert, there was talk about stress. But now, “we recognise much more today issues surrounding emotional health and mental wellbeing. It’s good that there is growing awareness of these issues.”

Generation Z has come through “a very difficult recession during the formative part of their lives. That undoubtedly is having an impact on how they feel about the future. What we have to do is inspire them not to take [the negativity] on board but to always look at what can be achieved. Success isn’t about being famous or rich. It’s about the ability to be content and we need to find out how we can help our children realise this.”

Zeminar is taking place at the RDS, Ballsbridge, Dublin, from Tuesday, October 11th, until Friday, October 14th. Tickets are €10 per day and can be purchased online at zeminar.ie or by calling 087-412 3378