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The most common cause of their anxiety — the future.

Completely reasonable. I'm a Millenial and I also have a lot of anxiety about the future. Previous generations screwed us all really hard.

I mean....

gestures vaguely

This article is terrible. First off, where do they get 60% from?

They link to the wrong research. The research they link to is a survey of people who already have anxiety. If you look at the research of the actual survey of the whole sample, not just those with anxiety, (here), it says that 42% have a diagnosed mental health condition, which includes an anxiety disorder amongst other disorders like depression, ADHD, and so on.

90% of the diagnosed conditions (90% of 42%) is anxiety, which would mean the actual number for only anxiety would be 37.8%.

78% of those 42% (32.76%) have depression as well. So a lot of those people with anxiety also have depression.

So the actual title should be 38% of Gen Z have an anxiety disorder. Which is only a bit higher than the total population.

According to large population-based surveys, up to 33.7% of the population are affected by an anxiety disorder during their lifetime. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4610617/

To be fair, we have a much better understanding of mental disorders now. Back when I was little, people basically fell under four categories (and these terms aren't my choosing, just what it was back in the early 80's): gifted, normal, slow or retarded. That was the extent of our understanding. At least based on my personal experience in an american public school system. I'm sure for older generations things were even more misunderstood.

Is it really a disorder if it's just a normal response to circumstances?

Why wouldn't one be anxious about impending environment crisis and inability of institutions to act quickly enough.

If more than half of a population has it, is it really a disorder? The disordered thing is clearly our society, but rather than fix that we medicate all the people having a hard time living in such a world.

Edit: looks like this headline isn't true.

Is it a disorder if most of them have it? Wouldn't that make the anxious the baseline and 40% of them are weird calmies?

Every day it's this comic again.

ITT: Boomers gaslighting people who have anxiety

They were born into an absolute shit show, maybe don't blame them too much.

Stop reading crisis media.

Turn off ALL notifications on your phone

Disconnect occasionally.

Or just weed. Copious amounts of weed.

Here is that source for the stat and here is the reported methodology quoted.

In September 2023, we surveyed 997 Gen Z who deal with anxiety and asked them how it impacts their lives. Respondents ranged in age from 18 to 26 with an average age of 23. 47% were women, 47% men, and 6% non-binary.

If I had to bet, I'd bet it's like almost every internet statistic and has a major voluntary response/self reporting bias.

I'm actually surprised that 40% are do not have an anxiety amongst those growing up in an environment of constant marketing pressure and social pressure to compare themselves against carefully selected images of other (i.e. real me vs facebook others) all the while slowly realising they're not going to have access to the same opportunities as they're parents, will inherit a World shafted in many many different ways and in some countries are pretty much starting their adult lifes in debt slavery.

Maybe those 40% are a mix of those who can't afford to seek health and those too mentally simple to realize any of this (if you're so dumb that you "see" very little beyond your little bubble and everything that happens to you is a surprise, you're not going to be anxious about the future).

I do have to wonder how these figures compare to older generations and to what extent underreporting due to stigmas around mental health could be corrected for between generations.

Future and finances - both things that have been screwed for us

They couldn't even write the subheading without making a typo so yeah top quality shit here

They are wise beyond their years.

I know an excellent therapist. In her professional opinion, she feels that other therapists and psychiatrists rush to diagnose any patient who comes to them with any type of normal worry or anxiousness about a situation that any normal person would also be worried about. It sort of like physicians who over prescribe antibiotics just because the patient insists. Just slap a label on the person and have them keep coming back for the fee. So, I do not believe the numbers are real. I feel like 60% may be diagnosed, but the number for people with the actual condition is likely much smaller.