The underlying causes of the fentanyl epidemic should worry us all

According to a recent Harvard Institute of Politics survey of more than 2,000 18- to- 29-year-olds, 55% report feeling fearful about the direction of the country and 35% see the U.S. as headed for another civil war soon. A majority of respondents describe “feeling down, depressed or hopeless” and finding “little interest or pleasure in doing things” for at least multiple days.

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Perhaps most tellingly, economic issues loom large in young people’s fear about the future, with the surveyed youth naming inflation, the cost of living and economic inequality among their top concerns. This fear bears out in the way the pandemic has even further stratified young Americans’ economic prospects from those of their parents, as mountains of student loan debt make dreams like homeownership a distant reality.

The economy isn’t alone in weighing increasingly heavily on youth’s mental health. A whopping 56% of the survey respondents also cite climate change as having a net impact on their plans for the future — and nearly the same percentage of respondents say the U.S. isn’t doing enough about it.

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