The Anxious Generation

The Anxious Generation boils down to one key thesis: we have overprotected our kids in the real world, and underprotected them online.

Around 2012, something changed across multiple countries: teen mental health fell off a cliff. After more than a decade of stability, rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide began rising sharply, more than doubling by many measures. This surge was concentrated almost entirely among adolescents and young adults. Why?

In his book, Jonathan Haidt makes the case that only one theory explains the data: in the course of just a few years, childhood was rewired from play-based to phone-based.