Arthur Brooks Says 55% Harvard Students Seek Care in Meaning Crisis
arthur brooks told an interfaith audience in Salt Lake City on Thursday, April 30, that the mental health crisis among young adults starts with a loss of meaning. Speaking at 8 a.m. before dozens of young adults and community leaders, he said the strongest predictor of depression and anxiety for people under 30 is saying, “My life feels meaningless.”
Brooks said depression rates had tripled among people under 30 and anxiety had doubled, while loneliness and addiction were also up. He added that 55% of students at Harvard University were seeking psychiatric care, and said, “That’s what led to the mental health crisis among young adults that we see today. We have a meaning crisis.”
Salt Lake City interfaith event
The Murray Utah YSA Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted the event, which filled a Church chapel and spilled into the overflow area. University of Utah President Taylor Randall, the Rev. Anthony Savas of St. Anna Greek Orthodox Church in Sandy, Utah, and Murray YSA Stake President Clark Ivory all attended.
Randall said Brooks had “given us a recipe today to try to take some interventions to find meaning in our lives.”
Brooks on boredom and phones
Brooks linked the shift to around 2008, when the technology boom and widespread cellphone use made information available at any moment. He said the culture became focused on information and analysis, and argued that constant access to information removed boredom from daily life.
He said boredom is part of building a meaningful life. “you literally need to be bored to find the meaning of your life,” he told the audience.
Harvard and Utah appearances
Brooks, a University of Utah impact scholar, New York Times bestselling author and Harvard Business School professor, said he returned to academia in 2019 after 11 years away. He teaches leadership and happiness at Harvard Business School.
On the same day as the Salt Lake City appearance, Brooks was also scheduled to deliver a commencement speech at the University of Utah’s graduation services. For students, faith leaders and university administrators in the room, his message tied the young adult mental health debate to a practical question: how to create more space for meaning, not just more information.
