The crisis of Generation Z

The youth aren’t doing well – not in America, at least. Even before Covid, experts were ringing the alarm bells about a decade-or-so-long trend of American teens and tweens experiencing a steady uptick in anxiety, depression and self-harm symptoms.

Late last year, US surgeon general Dr. Vivek Murthy published an official advisory attempting to raise awareness of this issue. As the accompanying press release explained, ‘from 2009 to 2019, the share of high school students who reported persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased by 40 per cent, to more than one in three students. Suicidal behaviors among high school students also increased during the decade preceding Covid, with 19 per cent seriously considering attempting suicide, a 36 per cent increase from 2009 to 2019, and about 16 per cent having made a suicide plan in the prior year, a 44 per cent increase from 2009 to 2019.’ Murthy described the situation as a ‘dual crisis’ – the terrible impact of Covid layered atop an already dire youth-mental-health landscape.