I wake up every morning to an alert on my phone: ‘Air Quality Index: Very Poor’. As a professional living in Delhi, this isn’t unusual. It’s November, and the pollution has settled in like an unwelcome guest that refuses to leave. I check my notifications: work emails, breaking news, messages I’ve been avoiding.
By the time I’m ready for work, I’ve already consumed a day’s worth of information, and the restlessness has begun. This is what anxiety looks like for me, a Gen Z writer trying to make sense of a world that feels as if it is constantly shifting beneath my feet. It shows up in my work, where every deadline feels urgent and every opportunity fleeting. It seeps into my relationships, where vulnerability feels risky and commitment uncertain. And it manifests in my body, where every cough triggers a spiral of health worries I can’t quite silence. “How will I manage all of this alone?” my mind screams.
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But I’m not alone in this feeling. Recently, actor Maya Hawke, 27, articulated something many of us have been thinking but struggling to name. In a conversation on Amy Poehler’s podcast Good Hang, Hawke spoke about anxiety and the unexpected power in voicing one of the most resonant animated characters in modern film. Hawke, who voices the character Anxiety in Disney-Pixar’s Inside Out 2, told Poehler — the voice of Joy — that “anxiety might be the defining emotion of our time”.
Hawke, the Gen Z daughter of actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, explained how portraying Anxiety shifted her relationship with her own thoughts. “I think with, like, the joy-anxiety relationship, it taught me a lot about showing love to that part of myself,” she said. “And that is all actually a way to calm it down: inviting it into the conversation.” The biggest lesson, she added, was “to give my anxiety a comfy chair”.
The conversation comes as mental health challenges affect a significant portion of young people in India. A 2024 study published in Cureus examining mental health issues among schoolchildren and adolescents found that anxiety is one of the most commonly reported challenges. The review of 31 studies highlighted the high prevalence of depression, emotional and behavioural issues, anxiety, psychological distress, internet addiction and related concerns.
More recently, MediBuddy’s analysis of psychological consultation data (October to December 2024) revealed that anxiety-related issues remain the most common condition, forming 32.28 per cent of consultations among young professionals aged 20–40.
The lived reality of Gen Z anxiety
When I reached out to young people about whether anxiety defines their generation, the responses were varied but revealing. Akshat Kharbanda, 25, pushed back against comparisons. “I don’t know if we’re necessarily more anxious than those before. They had their struggles. We’re just louder and living through an acceleration that makes everything feel like it’s dissolving before it solidifies,” he said. “Anxiety, for me, looks like waking up and trying to make sense of a world that shape-shifts every morning.”
Tisha Ahuja, 22, described it differently. She told indianexpress.com, “I do think our generation carries a different kind of anxiety, which is not always louder but more constant. It’s like background noise you learn to live with. For me, it’s the pressure to do everything right — career, relationships, even self-care. It’s not just worry; it’s the exhaustion of always trying to be ‘enough’ in a world that keeps moving faster.”
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For Tanusha Arora, 21, anxiety took centre stage after personal loss. “Losing my dad at 18, and soon after being diagnosed with alopecia areata, made anxiety central to my life. Managing grief, illness and ambition, all at once, isn’t easy, especially when you want to move at the same pace as everyone else,” she shared. “Anxiety builds up as burnout and a desire to escape — to go to the mountains alone, disconnect and breathe.”
The role of social media
Social media’s influence on Gen Z’s anxiety is complex. Akshat was blunt: “Social media is a major culprit. Our brains aren’t built for 500 dopamine hits before breakfast. We’re force-fed every crisis, and even when we tune out, there’s a conveyor belt of influencers selling perfect lives.”
Tisha captured its contradictions. “Social media is both the problem and the pause button. On bad days, it magnifies insecurity — someone else’s success, someone else’s peace. But it’s also where I find people who get it. It amplifies anxiety, yes, but it also gives it community and language.”
Much of Gen Z’s anxiety stems from collective uncertainty rather than individual dysfunction. (Source: Freepik)
What mental health experts are seeing
Clinicians confirm that Gen Z’s anxiety is both real and distinct. Aparna Rani, clinical psychologist at Cadabams Hospitals, said, “There is a real rise in anxiety symptoms among Gen Z, but also a greater willingness to name and discuss emotions.” Earlier generations, she noted, often masked distress under terms like stress or tension.
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“They’ve grown up with mental health in public discourse, so what was once invisible now has language. Anxiety is more visible, but that visibility is also progress,” she added.
Karishma Desai Shah, counselling psychologist and psychotherapist at Nimitt Counselling and Psychotherapy Services, said, “Yes, I’m definitely seeing a rise among Gen Z clients. Awareness has made people more articulate, but their experiences of anxiety and restlessness in daily life are increasing.”
On social media, Rani noted that it can be “both a trigger and a therapeutic outlet”, depending on usage patterns. Digital literacy, she said, is essential to understanding what nourishes and what drains.
On societal anxiety
Much of Gen Z’s anxiety stems from collective uncertainty rather than individual dysfunction. Rani explained, “They are growing up amid economic volatility, environmental crises and rapid technological change. This instability breeds anticipatory anxiety.”
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Shah sees similar patterns, with many young people experiencing anxiety linked to political, financial and climate crises, and intense pressure to succeed.
Akshat articulated this well: “I don’t enjoy earning when half of it bleeds into rent. I don’t enjoy working when AI is supposedly coming for my job. I don’t enjoy dating when vulnerability gets labelled toxic. The cognitive dissonance is where the anxiety lives.”
Tisha said the future feels like quicksand — “you can plan all you want, but the ground keeps shifting”.
Tanusha, however, saw possibility: “Uncertainty breeds possibility. It gives us space to explore and build life on our own terms.”
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Finding ways to cope
Coping strategies that resonate with Gen Z often redirect anxious energy instead of eliminating it. Rani said, “Interventions that emphasise agency, creativity and community work best. They respond well to app-based journalling, guided meditations and peer circles, but also crave authenticity. Emotional regulation through mindfulness, cognitive restructuring and body-based practices helps ground them.”
Shah emphasised digital awareness. She recommended limited news intake, awareness of curated online aesthetics, and mindful engagement with online groups — all while maintaining boundaries.
Coping strategies that resonate with Gen Z often redirect anxious energy instead of eliminating it. (Source: Freepik)
Reframing anxiety
Perhaps the most hopeful thread is the reframing of anxiety — not as weakness but as information. Akshat said, “Every feeling holds power. When things are steady and I’m anxious, I treat it as a signal. When life is falling apart and I’m anxious, it’s noise I need to quiet.”
Rani encourages clients to view anxiety as “a messenger, not an enemy”, signalling values, fears or goals worth examining.
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Shah added that anxiety has become a “buzzword”, with many labelling all discomfort as anxiety. Insight, she said, comes from examining discomfort and changing patterns so anxiety empowers rather than overwhelms.
Giving anxiety a comfy chair
Maya Hawke’s metaphor of giving anxiety a comfy chair feels apt. It suggests neither ignoring anxiety nor letting it dominate, but acknowledging it with compassion.
As I finish writing this, I glance at my phone again. The air quality hasn’t improved, the news remains overwhelming and tomorrow will bring its own anxieties. But there is comfort in knowing others feel this too — and that together, we are learning to transform anxiety from something that paralyses us into something that connects us and teaches us how to be human in an uncertain world.