--- title: The meaning crisis behind the anxious generation date: 2026-05-07T07:00:00+01:00 author: Bryony Lines canonical_url: "https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/the-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation" section: Articles --- Share [](https://www.facebook.com/dialog/share?app_id=1769260916495219&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fthe-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation) [](https://x.com/intent/tweet?text=The%20meaning%20crisis%20behind%20the%20anxious%20generation&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fthe-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation) [](https://www.facebook.com/dialog/send?app_id=1769260916495219&redirect_uri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fthe-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation&link=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fthe-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation&display=popup) [](mailto:?subject=Shared%20from%20Evangelical%20Alliance&body=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.eauk.org%2Fnews-and-views%2Fthe-meaning-crisis-behind-the-anxious-generation) #### ‘The Anxious Generation’ is what Jonathan Haidt has called today’s young people in his 2024 book of the same name. He’s not wrong. And I’ve experienced that anxiety myself.' The [Mental Health Foundation](https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/about-us/news/young-people-most-likely-feel-anxious-according-our-recent-survey?) found that 34% of 18 – 24-year-olds experience anxiety ​“all or most of the time” and 89% of 18 – 24-year-olds say that anxiety interfered with their day-to-day life to some extent. At the same time, we are running out of words to place in front of ​‘crisis’: mental health, loneliness, meaning, climate, identity, cost of living. Is it any wonder the [rates of mental illness](https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/what-we-do/our-work/well-being/mental-health-statistics?) amongst young people have risen by 50% in recent years? Sponsored[](#) [ ![](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ](https://lst.ac.uk/event/blessed-trinity-conference/) And yet, when set against the reality of persecution, war and famine across the world, our anxieties in the comfortable western world can feel jarring. Perhaps we even feel shame. We live in a time of unprecedented prosperity. Over the past century, extreme poverty has fallen dramatically, child mortality has declined, and life expectancy and literacy have soared. Never have [we lived more comfortably](https://ourworldindata.org/12-key-metrics) while speaking so frequently of misery. The kings of the past could scarcely imagine the everyday conveniences we take for granted. By almost every material measure, this should be an age of hope. Yet the stories around us are anything but hopeful. So what explains the disconnect? It is tempting to dismiss the ​“mental health crisis” as the product of misplaced expectations, disconnection, or diminished resilience. Jesus brings us back down to earth, reminding us: ​“man cannot live by bread alone”. (Matthew 4:4) There are spiritual factors at play as well as material ones. One respondent from our [*Finding Jesus*](https://www.eauk.org/assets/files/downloads/Finding-Jesus-report.pdf) survey put it like this: ​“On the outside, and on paper, you would have thought I would be the happiest. I had everything I ever wanted. My partner had a successful business, which meant I didn’t have to work. We had two children, which is all I have wanted. We lived in a nice little village. And I just thought, *Wow, why am I not happy?* Because I had what I’d always thought I wanted and thought that I had everything that I wanted in life. But actually, I was quite miserable.” 34% of those surveyed said there were looking for meaning when they found Jesus. It sounds banal to say, but material wealth and spiritual wealth are a different kettle of fish. It is less banal when we consider how often civil society tries to explain away mental health in material terms. Perhaps we should be bolder as Christians in claiming mental health as an area where we can point towards answers. A stat that correlates suspiciously onto rates of anxiety amongst young people: 34% of men and 18% of women claim they think life has no meaning. The mental health crisis and the meaning crisis go hand in hand. Luckily, we know there is a solution. By God’s grace I am no longer a statistic. For years in my mid-teens, I struggled with crippling social anxiety driven by a deep source of shame. The more isolated I got, the more anxious I got, and the more anxious I got, the more I felt isolated. I couldn’t look others in the eye. I couldn’t speak in a one-on-one conversation. I calculated conversations to a comical degree to try to avoid embarrassment. By God’s grace, there were many stages throughout my teens when I took a step along the road towards relying less on myself and more on the Lord. > The more isolated I got, the more anxious I got, and the more anxious I got, the more I felt isolated.” I still feel anxiety and have accepted I’m probably a natural worrier, but in the words of 2 Corinthians 12:9: “\[His\] grace is sufficient for \[me\] for \[His\] power is made perfect in weakness.” I now really enjoy public speaking and do it often after a (very) gradual learning curve at university. This would have been inconceivable to me at 15. In the same way as the Israelites are often commanded to remember the Lord their God, who brought them out of Egypt, my big exodus moment was from my own shell! And I try not to forget what the Lord has done for me and where he has brought me from. A pivotal verse for me was Joshua 1:9: ​“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” It has the tone of someone shaking your shoulders to wake you from drifting off. More than 75% of 16–25-year-olds say that they ​“[find the future frightening](https://time.com/6097677/young-people-climate-change-anxiety/?).” We live in a time where bad news can be communicated instantly, and we have a lot of it! Studies have shown the [more politically engaged young people are](https://jsomer.org/index.php/pub/article/view/82?), the more likely they are to be depressed When Martin Luther wanted to comfort his anxious friend, he would place a hand on his shoulder and say, ​“Let Phillip cease to rule the world.” The light shines all the brighter in the darkness. And the Lord rules in our broken world. I am praying that, like Phillip, many more of this anxious generation would cast their anxieties upon the Lord (1 Peter 5:7) and maybe even cease to rule the world. --- [ ![How do we cultivate sustainable and enduring mental health?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Mental health photo by wildpixel on i Stock](https://eauk.org/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=90,width=400,fit=cover/https://cdn.eauk.org/Mental-health-photo-by-wildpixel-on-iStock.jpg) ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/how-do-we-cultivate-sustainable-and-enduring-mental-health) [#### How do we cultivate sustainable and enduring mental health? ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/how-do-we-cultivate-sustainable-and-enduring-mental-health) For Mental Health Awareness Week, Christian psychiatrist Angharad Gray encourages us to take a holistic, biblical, relational approach to mental wellbeing [ ![Angharad Gray](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ](/author/angharad-gray) [ Angharad Gray ](/author/angharad-gray) 05 May 2026 [](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/how-do-we-cultivate-sustainable-and-enduring-mental-health) [ ![What does Jesus say about our mental health?](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ![Priscilla du preez F9 D Fu Jo S9 EU unsplash](https://eauk.org/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,quality=90,width=400,fit=cover/https://cdn.eauk.org/priscilla-du-preez-F9DFuJoS9EU-unsplash.jpg) ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/what-does-jesus-say-about-our-mental-health) [#### What does Jesus say about our mental health? ](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/what-does-jesus-say-about-our-mental-health) Julie Wilson from Kintsugi Hope shares how scripture helps her share hope as a church leader, and how much Jesus cares about our wellbeing [ ![Julie Wilson](data:image/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%271%27%20height%3D%271%27%20style%3D%27background%3Atransparent%27%2F%3E) ](/author/julie-wilson) [ Julie Wilson ](/author/julie-wilson) 14 May 2024 [](https://www.eauk.org/news-and-views/what-does-jesus-say-about-our-mental-health) --- ### About Mark Gilmore ![]()Mark serves as the policy advisor at the Evangelical Alliance. He has worked in both the House of Lords, House Commons and as a parliamentary officer to the Christians in Parliament All Party Parliamentary Group. He is interested in the role of faith in public life, Jesus’ call to social justice and all things policy. When he isn’t talking politics, he enjoys theatre, singing and a good run! [See more from Mark Gilmore](/author/mark-gilmore)