The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness

In his book "The Anxious Generation," Jonathan Haidt argues that the decline of free-play in childhood and the rise of smartphone usage among adolescents are the twin sources of increased mental distress among teenagers. He delves into the latest psychological and biological research to show how this shift from free-play to smartphones disrupts development, with separate in-depth analyses of the impact on girls and boys.

Format: Hardback
Length: 400 pages
Publication date: 26 March 2024
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

The Sunday Times Bestseller 'Jonathan Haidt is a modern-day prophet, disguised as a psychologist. He points the way forward to a brighter, stronger future for us all. Susan Cain. Compelling, readable, remarkably persuasive. Telegraph. Urgent and essential. It ought to become a foundational text for the growing movement. Guardian. From the international bestselling author of The Righteous Mind and The Coddling of the American Mind. After more than a decade of stability or improvement, the mental health of adolescents in many countries around the world deteriorated suddenly in the early 2010s. Why have rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide risen so sharply, more than doubling in many cases? In this book, Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt argues that the decline of free-play in childhood and the rise of smartphone usage among adolescents are the twin sources of increased mental distress among teenagers. Haidt delves into the latest psychological and biological research to show how, between 2010 and 2015, childhood and adolescence got rewired. As teens traded in their flip phones for smartphones packed with social media apps, time online soared while time engaging face-to-face with friends and family plummeted, and so did mental health. This profound shift took place against a backdrop of diminishing childhood freedom, as parents over-supervised every aspect of their children's lives offline, depriving them of the experiences they most need to become strong and self-governing adults. The Anxious Generation reveals the fundamental ways in which this shift from free-play to smartphones disrupts development - from sleep deprivation to addiction - with separate in-depth analyses of the impact on girls and boys. Grounded in ancient wisdom, this groundbreaking book offers practical solutions for parents and educators seeking to help their children navigate the challenges of the modern world.

Weight: 610g
Dimension: 240 x 160 x 35 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780241647660