The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt reveals the consequences of letting kids become increasingly immersed in the virtual world… while also providing suggestions and solutions to help safeguard the next generation.” —Shannon Carlin, TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After over a decade of improvement or stability, the mental health of adolescents took a sharp downturn in the early 2010s. Depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rates surged, more than doubling in many cases. What caused this?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt uncovers the truth behind the teen mental health epidemic affecting many countries at once. He examines childhood itself—why children need play and independent exploration to grow into healthy, competent adults. Haidt traces the decline of the “play-based childhood” starting in the 1980s, and its eventual replacement by the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He highlights more than a dozen ways this shift has disrupted children’s social and neurological development, from sleep deprivation to addiction, loneliness, social comparison, and perfectionism. He also explains why social media harms girls more than boys, and why boys are retreating from the real world into the virtual one with devastating consequences.

Most importantly, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He identifies the “collective action problems” trapping us and offers four simple rules to break free. He outlines steps that parents, educators, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the mental health crisis and restore a healthier, more human childhood.

Throughout his career, Haidt has fearlessly presented data-driven truths in the most challenging environments—divided political communities, campus culture wars, and now the urgent public health crisis facing Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his insights into how we can protect our children—and ourselves—from the psychological harm of a phone-centered world.