Gen-Z Mental Health Crisis

Gen-Z (born after 1995) shows much higher rates of adolescent mental illness¹ relative to other generations:

• Since 2010 A 145% uptick among teen girls (~12% → ~30% of the population) in depression, a 161% uptick in boys (5% → 13%)¹
• 134% increase in anxiety and 106% increase in depression among college students¹
• 188% increase in self harm visits to the emergency room for adolescent girls¹

Haidt observes that the rise in depression is not correlated with the unemployment rate (economic uncertainity)¹. The crisis follows similar patterns across the “anglospehere” (U.K, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia) and Nordic countries¹.

1. Haidt, J. The Anxious Generation. (London, 2024).