How anxiety has many Hong Kong Gen Zs in its grip, and the ways they are breaking free
- Pressure to do well in school, career planning, or stress about living up to expectations are some of the many things making Gen Z anxious
The latest Pixar Animation Studios film, Inside Out 2, sees its main human character, Riley, enter puberty and experience new emotions – represented, as in the first film, by animated characters.
One of these is Anxiety, whose main job is to protect her “from all things she cannot see”. Anxiety is constantly thinking 10 steps ahead, conjuring up any scenario that could go wrong – and taking measures to avoid it.
While other emotions come to terms with Anxiety being a normal and necessary feeling for Riley, the film hints at the consequences when Anxiety becomes so persistent and severe that she completely takes over Riley’s mind.
In real life, anxiety is the body’s response to stress and feelings of fear and dread. And in Hong Kong, Generation Z is experiencing more than its fair share of those.
