Living on Edge: Gen-Z and the Rise of Anxiety

Many of us have felt the onset of anxiety. The air thins, your chest tightens. You might feel overwhelmed and or begin to tremble with a fear that’s hard to place. Anxiety replaces any hope of calm. Sadness presses in like a presence you can’t shake. For many Gen-Zers, going outside to “have fun” feels impossible experiencing this sort of crushing unease.

If you’ve experienced it, you’re not alone. Nearly one in five adolescents ages 12 to 17 report experiencing symptoms of anxiety and depression in just the past year. A majority of Gen-Z (65%) say they have struggled with mental health problems. The numbers echo what we feel in our bones: the world is heavy, and it’s sitting squarely on our generation’s shoulders.

The Phone in Our Hands

The device you’re reading this on, likely your phone, is both a lifeline and a trapdoor. Social media is where we find community, but also where we market ourselves in grandiose ways: photo filters, unrealistic body images, extravagant material things, the “perfect” relationship. Studies show entire online communities exist around suicide content: in one analysis, over 570,156 young adults were active consumers of suicide-related material on social media. For Gen-Z, this constant exposure can erode self-esteem and amplify anxiety. The pressure to match curated images, maintain the “perfect” online persona, and keep up with peers’ experiences creates a persistent fear of missing out (FOMO). Cyberbullying, jealousy, and digital comparison further intensify these feelings. Exposure to self-harm or suicide-related content can worsen depression and anxiety, particularly for adolescents still forming their identities. This digital pressure often shows up offline as emotional distress, sleep disturbances, and a pervasive sense of inadequacy, making it difficult to separate real-life experiences from performative social media expectations.

A Vulnerable Generation in an Unsteady World

Gen-Z is a generation infiltrated by a constant, amorphous storm: political tyranny, climate collapse, reproductive rights stripped and restored at will. Economic precarity is not an abstraction, it’s our future. Almost nine in ten Gen-Zers believe access to health care is a human right, yet 17% of us still lack health insurance. Even for those with coverage, over half of youth ages 12 to 17 report difficulty accessing needed mental health care. We talk more openly about depression and anxiety than older generations, but too often we do so while waiting for a therapist we can’t afford or a system that doesn’t call us back. Without addressing our feelings of anxiety, they worsen, this is a problem because Gen-Z continues to struggle with. 

The Rise of Anxiety

Anxiety isn't just a mental state, it's a complex condition that can profoundly affect both mind and body. The prevalence of anxiety disorders has surged in recent years, particularly among Generation Z. Studies indicate that anxiety rates increased from 7.62% in 2010 to 19.9% in 2022, highlighting a significant rise in anxiety disorders over the past decade. 

For some individuals, anxiety is not merely a passing feeling but a debilitating condition that interferes with daily life. Physical symptoms such as gastrointestinal issues, sleep disturbances, muscle tension, and heart palpitations are common manifestations of anxiety. These symptoms can mimic other medical conditions, leading to misdiagnosis or unnecessary medical interventions. 

Moreover, chronic anxiety has been linked to the development and exacerbation of autoimmune disorders. Conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and multiple sclerosis involve the immune system attacking the body's tissues. Prolonged exposure to stress hormones due to anxiety can trigger systemic inflammation, potentially influencing the severity and progression of these autoimmune diseases. 

In Gen-Z, the impact of anxiety is particularly pronounced. Over 60% of individuals aged 12 to 27 report experiencing significant stress and anxiety, including social anxiety. This demographic faces unique challenges, including digital overstimulation, academic pressures, and societal expectations, which contribute to the escalating mental health crisis.

The Darkest Edge: Suicide

“In the last part of the last decade, the suicide rate rose to alarming levels,” says American University Professor Dave Marcotte. The numbers prove  him right. From 2007 to 2021, the suicide rate among youth ages 10-24 surged by 62%. In 2021 alone, suicide was the third leading cause of death among high school students ages 14–18, nearly 2,000 lives lost in a single year. Behind those deaths are thousands more who come close: over 20% of high schoolers say they’ve seriously considered suicide, and nearly 10% have attempted.

Suicide casts a shadow over the mental health challenges many of us face. It is part of what makes these struggles feel urgent. To be Gen-Z is to live at the intersection of digital overstimulation, systemic injustice, and a body that still has to show up for AP tests. Anxiety, social pressure, and digital comparison intensify the mental load that can contribute to depression and other serious mental health struggles. We carry the weight of the planet’s future while still figuring out who we are.

And yet, there is resilience here. There is the girl at the bathroom sink, gripping porcelain, who walks back into the classroom even with shaking hands. There are the group chats where friends share hotline numbers and memes in the same breath. There is the collective refusal to remain silent. If we are the “anxious generation,” we are also the generation that names the pain, demands better systems, and builds new languages for survival.

Because we know what is at stake. We know what it means to claw back breath when the air has thinned.

The Frightening Connection

While depression is often seen as the clearer link to suicide, anxiety can be just as dangerous. For some, the constant physiological stress, intrusive thoughts, and sense of impending doom that come with anxiety disorders can feel unbearable. Research shows that people with panic disorder, generalized anxiety, PTSD, and other anxiety conditions have a higher risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts, even when depression or substance use are not present. The reason isn’t simple: anxiety can distort thinking, isolate people from support systems, and lead to overwhelming feelings of fear or purposelessness. Living in a body that feels constantly unsafe can make suicide seem like a way to escape relentless internal distress. Anxiety, in other words, doesn’t just coexist with suicidal ideation, it can fuel it.

And so we end where we began: chest tight, breath shallow, overwhelmed. For many Gen-Zers, going outside to “have fun” still feels impossible, and yet we keep showing up, naming our pain, and carving out small moments of calm in a world that often feels too heavy.