Anxious Nation (2022)

Over the past three decades, the biggest public health threats to teenagers in the United States came from binge drinking, drunken driving, teenage pregnancy, and smoking. Today, these have been replaced by soaring rates of mental health disorders-especially anxiety. In a rare public advisory in early 2022, the U.S. surgeon general warned of a devastating mental health crisis among adolescents, creating a national emergency. Like pouring gasoline on an already out-of-control inferno, anxiety and its impact were intensely exacerbated by the pandemic. Academy Award-winning director Vanessa Roth and first-time co-director Laura Morton thoughtfully unfold the epidemic of anxiety and explore why we are such an anxious nation. The film sets out to lift the shroud of shame around mental health while giving emotional insights into how anxiety shows up in our children's lives, impacts families, and what parents' contributing role may be in the journey. Kids and families bravely share their stories, and the subjects will surprise you -- the star of the high school basketball team, the premed college student, the all-American girl next door. Resolving anxiety is not a one size fits all answer. The filmmakers offer deep insights into how we got here and what we can do to harness anxious energy for good. Above all, the film offers hope. While there is no cure for anxiety, we can learn to manage it, so it doesn't define us.