The Recent Rise in Teenage Anxiety

By MADELINE FITZGIBBON ‘21

Anxiety has become an epidemic among teenagers, and no one knows what to do about it or where exactly it stems from.

According to the New York Times, 30% of teenage girls and 20% of teenage boys in 2015 reported having an anxiety disorder, and according to an article in the Washington Post by Amy Ellis Nutt, anxiety was roughly six times more common in 2007 than in 1938. These numbers are disturbing, yet researchers cannot agree on a cause for the increase in anxiety. Some argue that the numbers are inaccurate and teens are exaggerating their symptoms without truly having an anxiety disorder. Others blame new technology, the shifting economy, or the pressure of school. However, anxiety is becoming a common topic of discussion as the public begins to educate itself on mental health and more teens suffer with the disorder. Many argue that teens report anxiety more often now because of the new awareness and education surrounding it.

Based on personal experience, I feel that anxiety develops due to a combination of pressures from all areas of life. With near constant access to social media and therefore a constant stream of edited pictures, teenagers develop a desire to fit into a narrow idea of perfect. However, social media displays only the best moments of people’s lives, so many teenagers are striving to reach impossible standards set by their peers. In addition to the social pressures to display a perfect lifestyle, the combined stresses of succeeding both academically and athletically in order to get accepted into a good college forces students to balance insane amounts of work. With so many pressures coming from all these different aspects of our lives, it isn’t hard to believe that anxiety rates are increasing.

In addition to this combination of everyday pressures, students also feel anxious due to the responsibility they feel to be social activists. As kids grow up and become more politically aware, they begin feeling a sense of responsibility. Young people’s political opinions are overwhelmingly left-leaning, and as they notice a lack of action surrounding injustices, they feel obligated to stand up against such atrocities. While teenagers have had incredible success in movements such as the March for our Lives, they also experience dissatisfaction when they witness injustices that they can do nothing about.  Although protests are effective, teens have no power in lawmaking and subsequently feel ineffective in enacting change. Combined feelings of having to live up to impossible standards of perfection and having to take responsibility for solving the world’s problems might lead to teenage anxiety.

Although most researchers agree that anxiety stems from this combination of pressures, no one has a truly effective solution. I have heard many people tell me that my panic attacks are imagined and that I need to “calm down and take a deep breath.” Though terms like self care and mental health are bandied around, concrete techniques to decrease anxiety and prevent panic attacks are rarely passed around. Students are not given enough opportunities for discussion around the topic of anxiety. If even two class periods were donated to suggesting techniques for anxiety management and allowing students to talk to each other, students could greatly improve their livelihoods. They could experience a decreased feeling of isolation and desperation and reduce anxiety through utilizing available resources and relying on friends. In a world designed to place pressure on them, teens need to learn that they do not always need to be perfect.