A Culture Of Perfection Is Making Teens Angsty

Young And Restless

- Divya Naik

Teena seems to be living the dream. A 17-year-old International Baccalaureate (IB) student in Mumbai, she juggles academic brilliance with extracurricular polish. Her Instagram is filled with curated shots of European vacations, perfect latte art, and smiling selfies. She speaks confidently in school assemblies about mental health and gender identity. On paper, she's the blueprint for success. But behind the filtered images and honor roll certificates, Teena is unravelling. She has panic attacks at night. She zones out during conversations. Her emotional numbness runs so deep that, in therapy, she struggles to name how she feels. "My parents are proud of me," she says, "but I feel like I'll stop existing in their eyes if I'm not the best." She has never told them about the panic. "They'd probably just hire a better tutor." This isn't an anomaly. It's a pattern.

Across India's metros, affluent teens and young adults are suffering from an invisible epidemic of anxiety, emotional dysregulation, identity confusion, and burnout. They are the kids who look sorted, who have access to therapy, gadgets, travel, and liberal education and yet they are often drowning.

ANXIETY IN A PALACE
Dr Sheba Singh, director at TalkSpace-A Mental Health Studio in Mumbai, notes a recurring profile in her clinic: high-functioning teens who seem fine on the surface but are quietly falling apart. "They get good grades, they participate in everything, they're articulate," she says. "But they report feeling empty, disconnected, and sometimes even suicidal." Similarly, Dr Diksha Parthasarathy, a neuropsychiatrist at PSRI Hospital, Delhi describes an emotional landscape riddled with anxiety, panic attacks, self-doubt, and chronic exhaustion. Despite their privilege, these teens express a haunting lack of meaning. "Affluence creates a paradox," she explains. "They have everything except emotional grounding. They are raised to win, but not to feel."