Generation Anxiety: smartphones have created a gen Z mental health crisis – but there are ways to fix it

Obviously with everything there's a mixture of positive and negative but I think overall smartphones have been way more good than bad for me. 

I have a device with me basically all the time that has instant access to a huge amount of music, all the information I could need on transport and directions (the idea of being on the other side of the city and the trains are a mess and I have no citymapper to help me get home is frankly terrifying), games to distract me if I'm struggling, the alarms and reminders I need to stay organised. God knows what else.

I'm always a bit unsure what to make of when I see these claims, because I was a teenager with no smartphone who would (I guess) be counted as a relative success because I wasn't treated for anxiety at that age. It didn't mean it wasn't happening, it meant I was totally alone. If I'd had more access to the internet, I probably would have figured out earlier that things were wrong and maybe would've been able to get help. But because I suffered in ignorance and silence until I left school and ended up in hospital, that's one fewer 13 year old who would've shown up on the statistics as dealing with anxiety and depression. Victory. 

Obviously with everything there's a mixture of positive and negative but I think overall smartphones have been way more good than bad for me. 

I have a device with me basically all the time that has instant access to a huge amount of music, all the information I could need on transport and directions (the idea of being on the other side of the city and the trains are a mess and I have no citymapper to help me get home is frankly terrifying), games to distract me if I'm struggling, the alarms and reminders I need to stay organised. God knows what else.

I'm always a bit unsure what to make of when I see these claims, because I was a teenager with no smartphone who would (I guess) be counted as a relative success because I wasn't treated for anxiety at that age. It didn't mean it wasn't happening, it meant I was totally alone. If I'd had more access to the internet, I probably would have figured out earlier that things were wrong and maybe would've been able to get help. But because I suffered in ignorance and silence until I left school and ended up in hospital, that's one fewer 13 year old who would've shown up on the statistics as dealing with anxiety and depression. Victory. 

T said:

I have a device with me basically all the time that has instant access to a huge amount of music, all the information I could need on transport and directions (the idea of being on the other side of the city and the trains are a mess and I have no citymapper to help me get home is frankly terrifying), games to distract me if I'm struggling, the alarms and reminders I need to stay organised.

Excellent points and also, as you intimate, the information available for medical (or anything) conditions is superb.

At 14 a friend of mine was institutionalised in our local 'asylum' with anorexia and almost died.

She would have had a lot more resources these days and been less isolated (I realise that there is a converse to this as social media might have exacerbated her condition).

I think that for me that's the major bonus of the internet - information at your fingertips (as long as we can be discerning) ..