Health: IELTS Writing Task 2 question

In many parts of the world, a growing proportion of young adults say that they suffer from high levels of stress and anxiety. The causes lie partly in economic and academic pressure and partly in the way young people use social media, and tackling them will require action from institutions as well as individuals.

One important cause is the pressure to succeed. Young people often face intense academic pressure to achieve top grades, followed by fierce competition for a limited number of good jobs, and many feel that a single failure could ruin their future. Financial worries add to this strain. In many cities, high rents mean that young adults spend a large share of their income on housing, while short-term contracts and job insecurity make it hard to plan ahead. A third factor is social media, which encourages people to compare themselves constantly with others. When someone scrolls through carefully selected images of friends' holidays, promotions and relationships, it is easy to conclude that everyone else is more successful, even though this picture is far from complete.

Several measures could help. First, colleges and employers should provide affordable counselling services, so that young people can seek professional help early, before their difficulties become serious; making such support easy to access also reduces the embarrassment that many feel about asking for it. Second, governments and companies could set clear limits on working hours and discourage the expectation that staff reply to messages late at night, protecting time for rest and relationships. Third, schools could teach students about healthy technology use, including how online images are edited and why regular breaks from their phones matter.

In conclusion, rising stress among young adults stems from pressure to succeed, economic uncertainty and social media. Improving their mental health is a responsibility shared by governments, employers and young people themselves.