Till death do us part—how Gen Z is rewriting the rules of mortality

“It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.”

— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Maxwell, a 16-year-old student from Delhi, is part of a WhatsApp group where classmates exchange ideas about death—ranging from eco-friendly burials to AI-driven memorialisation. “I find it fascinating,” he says. “It’s exciting to see how AI is challenging traditional notions of death and grieving. I was reading about how AI uses communication datasets to preserve the essence of people, allowing their personalities to live on and interact with loved ones even after they’re gone. Isn’t that incredible?”

In a world where everything feels transient—news cycles, relationships, even selfhood—Millennials and Gen Z are turning their gaze toward the one constant humanity has long avoided: death. But rather than shrinking from it, they are dissecting, demystifying, and embracing it, weaving it into their everyday lives with a curiosity that’s as radical as it is transformative.

The cultural shift: Breaking taboos

In 2017, Dr Sneha Rooh, a Delhi-based palliative care physician and somatic therapist, launched Death Café India, a local chapter of the global Death Café movement. The premise is simple: strangers gather over coffee, tea, and cake to discuss death in all its forms—philosophical, emotional, and practical. There is no agenda, no therapist guiding the discussion, and no pressure to reach a conclusion—just a safe space to explore the inevitability we all share.

“Even everyday life has become precarious. Here in Delhi, for example, the air quality is so poor that people worry about their children’s lifespans being shortened. It’s as if the question has shifted from, ‘How do we earn a living?’ to ‘How do we survive at all?’ Death feels omnipresent, and that’s changed the way people engage with it,” says Dr Rooh.

The role of trauma and global crises

Dr Rooh notes a significant change in the demographics of Death Café attendees. “Before the pandemic, it was mostly younger people who attended. For them, perhaps death was still an abstract idea—something they could afford to explore intellectually. But now, older people are also participating, facing the reality of mortality head-on.”

She explains that the pandemic was just one trigger. “Today, there’s the looming threat of climate disasters, escalating genocides, and widespread destruction that we witness daily on social media. These tragedies aren’t distant anymore—they’re on our screens, unfiltered. We’re seeing footage of unimaginable horrors, such as headless babies or devastated communities.”

Dr Maisa Ziadani, a licensed clinical psychologist specialising in pain psychology, adds that this exposure to trauma and instability has led to increased existential anxiety. “We see a rising trend of younger generations engaging in behaviours to help alleviate their fears and anxieties, like planning their funerals and writing a will. While such strategies create a sense of control, a more adaptive approach might involve accepting uncertainty and focusing on values that guide a meaningful life. This approach is rooted in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and can reshape our relationship with mortality.”

How social media altered perceptions

Historically, death was a communal experience, shared openly during rituals like Victorian mourning. However, industrialisation and medicalisation distanced people from death, creating an aura of detachment. Millennials and Gen Z are breaking these barriers, approaching death with the same intentionality as they do birth.

“Social media has been instrumental in creating awareness and breaking taboos,” says Dr Rooh. “Even the Death Café concept came to me through the Internet. Back in 2017, I was researching what constitutes a ‘good death’ and discovered the global Death Café movement online.”

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn allow users to memorialise loved ones, share real-time grief support, and create virtual memory walls. Features like Facebook's memorial accounts provide innovative ways to keep memories alive.

The death positivity movement

In the West, figures like Caitlin Doughty, a mortician and advocate for funeral reform, have propelled the death positivity movement. This movement encourages eco-friendly burials and reframes death as a natural, even beautiful, part of life. Online spaces such as Modern Loss offer resources to process grief while avoiding clichés.

Dr Ziadani believes this openness is vital. “For decades, death has been taboo for younger generations. Children are often shielded from funerals or graveyards, which may hinder their ability to develop coping strategies for inevitable life challenges. Normalising discussions around death helps younger generations build resilience and embrace life’s natural cycles.”

Processing emotions, from shock and anger to acceptance, is critical. By creating safe spaces and encouraging dialogue, Millennials and Gen Z are paving the way for a healthier relationship with mortality—one rooted in curiosity, preparation, and acceptance.

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