The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidem BY Jonathan Haidt

In The Anxious Generation, social psychologist Jonathan Haidt explores the dramatic rise in anxiety, depression, and mental health struggles among young people—and how it is linked to the transformation of childhood in the age of smartphones and social media.

Haidt argues that today’s children are growing up in a “rewired” environment, where outdoor play, independence, and face-to-face interactions have been replaced by screens, constant digital stimulation, and online comparison. This shift, he shows, has coincided with—and likely fueled—an epidemic of loneliness, fragility, and psychological distress.