Gen Z has a reputation for being stressed out. Apparently, they’re doing something about it—and their employers have no idea.
A new survey of 1,000 U.S. adults by Drug Rehab USA found that 35 percent of Gen Z respondents use substances such as cannabis, alcohol, or prescription medications before starting work, and 56 percent use them after work to recover from job-related stress. Nearly a third are using during breaks, sneaking off to their cars or workplace bathrooms. Only 21 percent said they’re always substance-free at work.
That’s a lot of people getting through the day on something other than caffeine.
Gen Z May Have a Substance Use Problem at Work
But before this becomes a “kids these days” story, the data complicates that narrative pretty quickly. Millennials actually edged out Gen Z in several categories: 37 percent reported using substances before work compared to 35 percent of Gen Z, and 62 percent of Millennials use alcohol to manage stress, versus 61 percent of Gen Z. The youngest generation gets the headlines, but the middle-aged one is right there with them.
Across all four generations surveyed, alcohol was the most commonly reported substance at 57 percent, followed by cannabis at 54 percent and nicotine at 48 percent. Smaller numbers reported using prescription anxiety or sleep medications (26 percent), stimulants like Adderall (9 percent), painkillers or opioids (9 percent), and illicit drugs (7 percent).
The reasons aren’t exactly a mystery. Eighty-four percent of respondents said financial stress influences their substance use, driven most by rising grocery and living costs (61 percent), utilities (43 percent), and housing or rent (41 percent). For a generation that came of age during a pandemic, entered a brutal job market, and has never known a news cycle that wasn’t actively terrible, the coping mechanisms are sadly understandable.
Andrew McKenna, deputy director of the National Council of Alcoholism and Drug Dependence/Westchester, Inc., and author of the study, said, “It’s not that Gen Z can’t cope with stress, but they’re dealing with a version of life that feels like it’s always on, and it’s hard to take a step back,” he told the New York Post. “What we’re seeing is how coping has changed from actually managing stress to merely getting through it and surviving.”
Part of the problem is that the more functional alternatives are increasingly out of reach. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said substances feel more accessible, affordable, or effective than therapy, with 37 percent citing the cost of mental healthcare and 25 percent pointing to inadequate insurance coverage. When the waitlist for a therapist stretches three months, and a vape pen takes three minutes, the math isn’t hard.
It adds up financially, too. Over a third of respondents spend $50 or more on substances each week, with 15 percent spending over $100. So, not only are people self-medicating instead of accessing real care, they’re paying a substantial amount to do it.
Sixty-seven percent of Gen Z respondents said they’d consider leaving the U.S. entirely due to stress and the cost of living. Whether or not they follow through, that number says something about how sustainable daily life feels right now for the country’s youngest workers. Not great, apparently.
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