The Anxious Generation

How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

By: Jonathan Haidt

Narrated by: Sean Pratt, Jonathan Haidt

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A Wall Street Journal Top 10 Book of 2024 • A New York Times and Washington Post Notable Book • One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2024 • A TIME 100 Must-Read Book of 2024 • Named a Best Book of 2024 by the Economist, the New York Post, and Town & Country • The Goodreads Choice Award Nonfiction Book of the Year • Finalist for the PEN Literary Awards

A must-hear for all parents: the generation-defining investigation into the collapse of youth mental health in the era of smartphones, social media, and big tech—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“With tenacity and candor, Haidt lays out the consequences that have come with allowing kids to drift further into the virtual world . . . While also offering suggestions and solutions that could help protect a new generation of kids.” —Shannon Carlin, TIME, 100 Must-Read Books of 2024

After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents plunged in the early 2010s. Rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide rose sharply, more than doubling on many measures. Why?

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt lays out the facts about the epidemic of teen mental illness that hit many countries at the same time. He then investigates the nature of childhood, including why children need play and independent exploration to mature into competent, thriving adults. Haidt shows how the “play-based childhood” began to decline in the 1980s, and how it was finally wiped out by the arrival of the “phone-based childhood” in the early 2010s. He presents more than a dozen mechanisms by which this “great rewiring of childhood” has interfered with children’s social and neurological development, covering everything from sleep deprivation to attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, social comparison, and perfectionism. He explains why social media damages girls more than boys and why boys have been withdrawing from the real world into the virtual world, with disastrous consequences for themselves, their families, and their societies.

Most important, Haidt issues a clear call to action. He diagnoses the “collective action problems” that trap us, and then proposes four simple rules that might set us free. He describes steps that parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments can take to end the epidemic of mental illness and restore a more humane childhood.

Haidt has spent his career speaking truth backed by data in the most difficult landscapes—communities polarized by politics and religion, campuses battling culture wars, and now the public health emergency faced by Gen Z. We cannot afford to ignore his findings about protecting our children—and ourselves—from the psychological damage of a phone-based life.

©2024 Jonathan Haidt (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Erudite, engaging, combative, crusading.”—New York Times Book Review (Editors’ Choice)

“Words that chill the parental heart… thanks to Mr. Haidt, we can glimpse the true horror of what happened not only in the U.S. but also elsewhere in the English-speaking world… lucid, memorable… galvanizing.”—Meghan Cox Gurdon, Wall Street Journal

“[An] important new book... The shift in kids’ energy and attention from the physical world to the virtual one, Haidt shows, has been catastrophic, especially for girls.”—Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times

Empowering Information for Parents

This book was engrossing and informative. It helped me to shape the way I think about parenting. I felt empowered by the research that backed up my gut feeling that something is wrong in the way we raise children today. I hope we are on the cusp of a sea change in terms of allowing our kids more freedom in the real world and less freedom in the online world.

A compelling analysis of the impact of social media on society

This was a deep and thoughtful analysis of how addictive technology is rewriting a generation. I am a social media researcher and I thought it was an excellent, accessible analysis that everyone should read in its entirety. Strongly recommend. Even if you don’t agree with everything, there is a lot here we should all be discussing.

Everyone needs this book

Jonathan Haidt lays out clear evidence and doable steps for parents, teachers, companies, and policymakers to protect mental and physical health of children, teens, and all people, really.

Great current information and insights

Like the accuracy of what he is saying. It seems to align with exactly what I see in the counseling office.

Practical helpful tips for parents and institutions

A very compelling, research based book with practical tips for positive change. The online supplement is an excellent additional resource.

Surprising new insights

I have seen Johnathan height speak many times, so I was surprised to learn so much still from this book. As the mother of a tween, this is a very pressing issue for me. I hope other parents will get on board as I see already so many of my son’s 11-year-old friends getting smart phones.

I scored the performance lower really for just one reason. The voice actor was fine and had a good voice and pace. I don’t know why it bothered me that they never corrected his pronunciation of “Bable“ since it’s the name of the authors organization I thought that would be something they should address.

A must read for every parent

Supported by facts and conclusive data, Jonathan Hoidt makes a strong case about the negative effects of social media on our youth. Parents, don’t fall into a trap. Be informed! If we are going to change, we have to do it together.

The data is undeniable.

I've been thinking about how to raise my daughter, since I found out I was pregnant a year ago. I hate what society has become a true life Idiocracy, Idolizing nonsense and I've been judged about wanting to limit tech in my home and in her youth... This book solidified my already strong convictions. Well read and written.

Every parent must read

This book laid out phenomenal evidence and research on how smart phones and social media are destroying childhood. Let us bring back play based childhood. And watch the mental health crisis of GenZ lower and protect the future of our children and society. Highly recommend

Outstanding

Well researched, well written, and extremely compelling. Super helpful. And good online supplement as well.