Close Menu
    Anxiety Among Young Germans [OC]
    Data

    Anxiety Among Young Germans [OC]

    Share.
    View 22 Comments

    22 Comments

    1. DataPulseResearch on

      **Article:** [**https://www.datapulse.de/en/anxiety-among-young-germans/**](https://www.datapulse.de/en/anxiety-among-young-germans/) 

      **Main data source:** [**Robert Koch Institute**](https://public.data.rki.de/t/public/views/MHS_Dashboard_English/Dashboard?%3Aembed=y&%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y)

      **Data:** [Google Sheets](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AeZ-dgGy-DeGbatzFeljGDYfUJ-JOQruFeleu1dr3rA/edit?usp=sharing)

      **Tool:** Adobe Illustrator

      The number of young people suffering from anxiety disorders has doubled in just three years. The isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic significantly contributed to a rise in phobias such as agoraphobia and social anxiety.

      Psychologists emphasize that young people, due to their limited life experience, often react more sensitively to stressful situations. On the positive side, phobias are generally treatable if those affected seek help and actively confront their fears.

      However, mental illnesses already account for nearly half of all disability pensions in Germany. The long-term impact on an entire generation is deeply concerning.

    4. Yay4sean on

      What is with the color choices here?  Red is youngest, blue is next youngest…  Why not a gradient??

    5. asterlynx on

      That’s what decades of not investing in the youth does. Also right wing propaganda thrives in german tiktok…

    7. Tiny-Sugar-8317 on

      How much of this is real and how much is it just more socially accepted to admit to mental illnesses these days? Not sure you can really tease those two apart.

    8. Opening_Wind_1077 on

      Misleading title, the graph shows a similar increase in all age groups except for 65+. Young people have actually increased less than the other two working age groups.

      It’s also not surprising that people that are still developing and making impactful live choices in their early years have a higher base level of anxiety. That’s also why you have a direct correlation between the baselines for anxiety with age in this graph.

      Edit: and here is the reason you don’t start graphs in 2021 to proof anything. The claimed increase is not really there, it’s the result of comparing normal levels to a historical low.

      https://preview.redd.it/kuu7uvgtkcie1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c1fc259d88166e24083d2e283c7b0b0bb979878

    10. taxgaming on

      I like the graph itself but I think the data it’s based on is on is poor because:

      – it’s only based on 3 year period
      – the three year period starts from 2021 Which means there is no reference pre-pandemic which anyone reading this is going to be interested in.
      – The graph picks on younger people but it’s very obvious other age groups apart from 65+ are affected. It invites questions around focus.
      – the education point seems rather ‘chucked in’. I’m sure there are many other correlations beside lower tier education to anxiety but they pick just that one for the graph. Is it the biggest influencer?

    15. justwannawatchmiracu on

      I don’t know what happened but it’s lovely that everybody had a nice moment in mid 2023

    17. AlotaFajita on

      Looking at the lines go up and down so quickly shows me I shouldn’t let life move me up or down so much. Thank you.

    20. ReyXwhy on

      Might have something to do with seniors and boomers to having homes and a pension and gen y and z to have none, while being challenged by price inflation, high rent, low income, world war 3, and AI taking over.

    21. JuMaBu on

      I am utterly convinced that a significant part of this is intentional label management by big pharma. Yes I believe true anxiety exists and is life limiting when chronic, but we are also labelling perfectly natural nervousness (social, professional, situational) as a medical complaint so that medical solutions can be marketed; including the monetised wellness industry. This graph is a socially co-opted reinforcement (though totally unintentional) that moves the strategy forward. I think it’s the same when framing naturally short concentrations spans and task avoidance as ADHD. Once you can name it, you can sell drugs for it. Again, I do believe ADHD is a real thing, just not as prevalent as it seems at the moment.

      Total conjecture. I have no evidence for this hypothesis.