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

Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

THE INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice

From New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Coddling of the American Mind, an essential investigation into the collapse of youth mental health—and a plan for a healthier, freer childhood.

“Erudite, engaging, combative, crusading.”—New York Times Book Review

“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.”—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

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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 Jonathan Haidt (P)2024 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Jonathan Haidt is a modern-day prophet, disguised as a psychologist. In this book, he’s back to warn us of the dangers of a phone-based childhood. He points the way forward to a brighter, stronger future for us all.”—Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Quiet

“An urgent and provocative read on why so many kids are not okay—and how to course correct. Jonathan Haidt makes a powerful case that the shift from play-based to phone-based childhoods is wreaking havoc on mental health and social development. Even if you’re not ready to ban smartphones until high school, this book will challenge you to rethink how we nurture the potential in our kids and prepare them for the world.”—Adam Grant, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Potential and Think Again, and host of the TED podcast Re:Thinking

“This is a crucial read for parents of children of elementary school age and beyond, who face the rapidly changing landscape of childhood. Haidt lays out problems but also solutions for making a better digital life with kids.”—Emily Oster, New York Times bestselling author of Expecting Better

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.

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.

Outstanding

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

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.

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.

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

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.

Poignant and Relevant more than any other book I’ve read this year

Amazingly relevant and comprehensive. Recommended for the lay person as well as physicians, psychologists, therapists, school counselors and teachers, and parents. The negative impact on the mental health of our children by social media and smartphones we adults find addictive too. But our children are being brought into this technology during key developmental periods in life we did not experience. Thank you Jonathan Haidt for KEY WORK in this arena. it will be a classic and should be a must read for all of us charged with the health and well-being of our children.

Important

This book is an important read for parents, educators, or anyone concerned about the effect that technology can have on the next generation. Compelling and serious without being alarmist, Haidt runs through the emergent social science literature on the effects of new technologies and social media on younger people.

A book every parent should read!

Very easy to listen to, finished it in three days. he does a good job of explaining the graphs verbally. I hope this book is a tipping point for some major change for our Young people. It’s definitely going to lead to changes and how I parent.