Written by guest author Victor Dubitans

Generation Z—those born roughly between 1997 and 2012—has grown up in an era where talking about mental health is more accepted than ever. Yet paradoxically, they are also the most anxious, depressed, and medicated generation on record. What's going on here?

Rates of depression and anxiety in young people have been climbing for over a decade, long before the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated this trend. A 2019 study published in JAMA reported a 47 percent increase in suicide rates among 15- to 19-year-olds from 2000 to 2017 (from 8.0 to 11.8 per 100,000). For the 10-14 age group, the suicide rate nearly tripled from 2007 to 2018 (from 0.9 to 2.9 per 100,000). This behavioral data shows that the mental health crisis isn't just about more awareness or overdiagnosis inflating the numbers—many young people are dangerously unhappy.

Prominent experts like Jean Twenge and Jonathan Haidt point to smartphones and social media. Around 2012, when over half of Americans had smartphones and social media became nearly unavoidable, Gen Z’s mental health metrics took a nosedive.

Some say it’s parenting: too protective, too fearful. Others cite school stress, economic insecurity, or ecological dread. All of these likely play a role.

But there’s an uncomfortable question we rarely ask: Could the mental health field itself be part of the........

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