The Problem

The Problem

Gen Z is living through a crisis of disconnection. On the surface, we’re more “connected” than any generation before us. But underneath, we’re more anxious, more divided, and more alone.

• Loneliness is deadly. Harvard and NIH research shows chronic loneliness is as dangerous as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
• Suicide is one of the leading causes of death for Gen Z.
• Depression and anxiety are at record highs, affecting nearly half of young adults.
• Gen Z has fewer close friends than any generation before us and more of us report feeling like we have no one we can truly count on.

But these are only the outcomes. The everyday symptoms of disconnection are all around us:

• Walking through school surrounded by people, but feeling like nobody really sees you.
• Friends cutting each other off over politics or opinions instead of talking it through.
• Scrolling past highlight reels and feeling like you don’t measure up.
• We had our teenage years disrupted by a global pandemic the years meant for growing with each other got spent in isolation.
• We’ve been told we’re the “most connected” generation, yet often felt the most alone.
• The real issue isn’t just technology, culture, or disagreement. The root problem is disconnection.

When we don’t talk, we stop understanding each other. When we stop understanding, empathy dies. And when empathy dies, division, aggression, and despair take over.

This is the reality facing Gen Z. And if we don’t change it, the cost isn’t just personal it’s an entire generation lost to silence.