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

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt examines the global epidemic of teen mental illness. He highlights the importance of play and independence in childhood and explains how the "play-based childhood" was replaced by a "phone-based childhood." Haidt outlines over a dozen mechanisms—such as sleep deprivation, addiction, social comparison, and perfectionism—that disrupt children’s social and neurological development.

Finally, he offers actionable solutions for parents, schools, and governments to restore a healthier, more balanced childhood.