Millennials, Gen Z Suffering Increased Rates Of Psychosis, Schizophrenia

MONDAY, Feb. 2, 2026 (HealthDay News) — Millennials and Gen Z might be at greater risk of psychotic disorders like schizophrenia than older generations, a new study says.

More recent generations are falling prey to psychosis more often and at younger ages than people born earlier, researchers report today in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Between 1997 and 2023, new cases of psychosis increased by 60% among people aged 14 to 20, researchers found.

This increase began among those born in the 1980s and later, researchers said. (Millennials are folks born between 1981 and 1996; Gen Z, between 1997 and 2012.)

“We don’t yet know what’s driving these changes, and it’s likely there isn’t a single explanation,” said lead researcher Dr. Daniel Myran, research chair of family and community medicine at North York General Hospital in Ontario, Canada. 

"Understanding what’s behind this trend will be critical to prevention and early support," he added in a news release.

For the new study, researchers tracked the mental health of more than 12 million people born in Ontario between 1960 and 2009. Of those, more than 152,000 were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder.

People with psychotic disorders typically experience delusions — for example, that people on television are sending them special messages, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.

They also suffer from hallucinations, which is seeing or hearing things that aren’t there – for example, voices telling them to do something or criticizing them.

Results showed that rates of new cases increased over time, rising from 62.5 cases per 100,000 people in 1997 to 99.7 cases per 100,000 in 2023.

These increases occurred among younger people, researchers said.

For example, people born from 2000 to 2004 had a 70% higher rate of psychosis than those born from 1975 to 1979, the study found.

Likewise, the total number of people diagnosed with a psychotic disorder increased by nearly 38% for those born in 1990 to 1994 compared to people born in the late 1970s.

People dealing with psychotic disorders tend to have many other health problems, and they are at increased risk of dying early, Myran said.

“Consequently, the observed trends raise important questions about possible causes and consequences of increasing numbers of psychotic disorder diagnoses,” he explained.

Researchers said there are several potential explanations for this increase in psychosis among later generations.

“A leading possibility is substance use — including cannabis, stimulants, hallucinogens and synthetic drugs,” Myran said. “The use of substances, especially earlier in life, is associated with the development and worsening of psychotic disorders, and substance use in Canada has risen over the past two decades.”

These generations’ parents tended to be older and less healthy, and their children faced more stress related to family finances and work-related moves to new places, researchers said. They also might have been exposed to an increased number of negative childhood experiences.

It also simply might be that doctors have gotten better at detecting and diagnosing psychosis, researchers added.

More research is needed to fully understand this increase in psychotic disorders, they concluded.

More information

The National Institute of Mental Health has more on psychosis.

SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal, news release, Feb. 2, 2026