There’s no denying that Gen Z has reshaped culture in a big way.
From how we talk about mental health to how we dress, work, and interact online, they’ve brought a fresh energy—and sometimes, a slightly chaotic one. Millennials have been watching all this unfold with a mix of admiration, confusion, and mild whiplash. We don’t hate it. But we do sometimes miss a time when life wasn’t lived entirely through layers of irony and soft-launch Instagram posts.
So, in the spirit of generational tough love (and maybe just a bit of pent-up frustration), here are some things millennials quietly wish Gen Z would stop doing—not out of judgement, but because we’ve lived enough to know when the shiny new trend comes with a hidden price.
1. Acting like they invented mental health awareness
Source: Unsplash It’s great that therapy is now a casual conversation. But some of us remember what it was like to grow up being told to “just suck it up” or to hide our anxiety so we didn’t make anyone uncomfortable. Millennials spent a lot of their twenties trying to unlearn emotional repression while being called overly sensitive for simply being honest.
When Gen Z turns vulnerability into a branded aesthetic or assumes older generations are just emotionally illiterate, it feels a little dismissive of the path that was paved before them. We’re glad mental health is a normal conversation now—but we bled for that normalcy, and a little recognition wouldn’t hurt.
2. Dragging everything millennial as “cringe”
Apparently, side parts, skinny jeans, the word “adulting,” and using crying-laugh emojis are now crimes against cool. And fine, trends move on. But it’s less about the fashion and more about how deeply Gen Z seems to enjoy mocking anything remotely associated with millennial culture.
We’re not trying to cling to 2014—we just don’t see the need to pretend everything we loved was embarrassing just because it predated Pinterest-core. Culture evolves, sure. But some of us still like our coffee without oat milk, and that doesn’t mean we need to be exiled from the timeline.
3. Declaring every emotion a diagnosis
We’re all for self-awareness, but there’s a difference between feeling off and pathologising every emotional dip as trauma. Gen Z has a way of turning discomfort into clinical language—labelling awkward social encounters as “dissociation” or a tough week as “burnout” before it’s even begun.
It’s not that these things don’t exist—it’s that throwing clinical terms around so casually starts to dilute the meaning for those who are genuinely struggling. Millennials fought hard to open up these conversations, and watching the language get flattened into slang can sometimes feel like progress being stretched too thin.
4. Pretending they invented burnout
Gen Z talks a lot about burnout—and rightly so. However, sometimes they speak like they discovered it, when in reality, millennials were living it before there was even a word for it. We were the ones told to “hustle harder,” to be grateful for unpaid internships, and to build entire careers off exposure. We were on email during our holidays and still apologising for taking sick days.
It’s not a competition, but if it were, millennials burned out harder, faster, and with far fewer memes to show for it. We’re glad Gen Z has the vocabulary, but don’t forget who taught them the cost of overworking in the first place.
5. Talking like the internet is real life
There’s something surreal about the way Gen Z merges online tone with everyday speech. It’s clever, sure—but also a little exhausting. When every sentence is laced with irony, deadpan sarcasm, or hyper-specific references, it starts to feel like real communication is being replaced with performance.
Millennials grew up alongside the internet, but we still remember life before it. We want conversations that sound like conversations—not like a voiceover from a chaotic tweet thread. At some point, it’s okay to say what you mean and mean what you say without three layers of in-joke.
6. Declaring their careers over at 23
There’s a strange sense of panic that comes with Gen Z career talk. If they’re not wildly successful by 25, they act like they’ve missed their window. It’s not unusual to hear someone joke about having “failed” just because they’re not self-employed, six figures deep, and booked on podcasts by their mid-twenties.
Millennials, on the other hand, were raised in a world where career paths were supposed to be long, winding, and built from the ground up. We understand the pressure, but we also know there’s life beyond the first act. Not being an overnight success doesn’t mean you’re lost—it just means you’re still in progress.
7. Treating sarcasm like it’s emotional immaturity
Millennials use sarcasm the way some people use small talk—it’s a tool for connection, humour, and stress relief. But Gen Z can be quick to label it as toxic, passive-aggressive, or emotionally avoidant. Sure, some of that criticism is valid. However, sometimes it feels like they forget that sarcasm was survival in an era where we weren’t taught how to name our emotions properly.
It was a way to cope before “holding space” was something you could say in public. We’re not afraid of depth. We just happen to think a well-timed dry remark can sometimes say just as much as a feelings check-in.
8. Assuming everyone wants to be an influencer
Not every millennial is chasing content creation dreams or wants to monetise their hobbies. Gen Z often frames “freedom” as being your own brand—but for many millennials, the idea of filming your life for an audience feels more exhausting than liberating. We lived through the early days of oversharing, and we saw what happened when people turned their private lives into public consumption.
Some of us want to live quietly, untagged, and without the pressure to turn everything into aesthetic content. Not because we’re boring—but because sometimes privacy is peace, and we’ve learned to value that more than clout.
9. Turning every trend into an identity
There’s a new trend every five minutes, and Gen Z seems to treat each one like a lifestyle. From fashion aesthetics to beverage preferences, it’s not just what you like—it’s who you are. And while it can be fun, it can also feel like everything has to be curated, categorised, and broadcast.
Millennials went through their own trend-chasing phases, sure, but we also learned that not everything you enjoy needs to become a brand. Sometimes, you can like something quietly without needing to commit to a whole identity around it. It’s okay to just be a person, not a theme.
10. Acting like being in your thirties is ancient
There’s a running joke online that people over 30 are basically fossils—and Gen Z runs with it. But millennials aren’t elderly. Most of us are still navigating firsts: new careers, new relationships, figuring out what stability actually means. We’re not washed-up—we’re just a bit more tired and a lot more moisturised.
It’s wild to be treated like your cultural relevance expired the second you left your twenties, especially by people who are still borrowing your playlists. We’re not here to compete—we’re just reminding you we’re still here, living life and thriving without needing to document every second.
11. Shaming stability like it’s the enemy
There’s a lot of hype in Gen Z circles about quitting, walking away, and embracing chaos. And while that can be empowering, it can also turn into a weird kind of shame toward people who genuinely like routine or long-term plans. Millennials, who grew up during economic crashes and job market messes, learned to find peace in the small things—a steady job, a stable relationship, a quiet weekend.
That’s not selling out. That’s recovery. Not every chapter needs to be dramatic to be valuable. Sometimes, peace is the win, even if it doesn’t look good on camera.
12. Believing they’ve already got life figured out
Confidence is great. But there’s a line between self-assurance and skipping the part where you admit you still have a lot to learn. Gen Z is bold and outspoken—but sometimes it comes with a kind of overconfidence that makes lived experience feel undervalued. Millennials aren’t trying to gatekeep wisdom—we just know that life doesn’t move in a straight line.
Things fall apart. People change. Values do too. The answers you swear by now might look different in five years. We’re not judging. We’re just saying: slow down. There’s more life coming than you think.
