Did 9/11 Cause the Mental Health Crisis?
A possible yet overlooked cause of youth anxiety and depression
The tragedy of 9/11 occurred twenty-three years ago this September. In a single day, thousands of lives were claimed and countless others upturned in an attack that signaled the dawn of a new, increasingly volatile era for Americans. In the years following, the nation underwent massive cultural shifts that served to shape contemporary America. War in the Middle East, school shootings, natural disasters, the internet, and the increasing medicalization of youth were just some of the elements that defined early post-9/11 America.
The result has been the creation of a highly tense and nihilistic world, especially for youth. Stress, anxiety, neuroticism, and suicidality are commonplace among young adults—a “mental health crisis” with roots documented in an ever-growing body of literature. While cultural factors are responsible for creating the mental health crisis of late Millennials and their Gen Z brethren, it’s possible that this generation was predisposed to emotional instability before they were even born.
Defensive, pessimistic, irrational, worried, lonely, and depressed—neuroticism describes many people under 30 today. Poor parenting, combined with a shoddy education system, ruinous eating habits, and chronic online exposure has bred a generation that struggles with varying levels of mood instability, especially if raised with liberal parents. Some would describe these youth as being “highly sensitive,” but
calls them “boring.”The Walt Right is a well-known publication in the conservative corner of Substack, run by the author Walt Bismark. His podcast, Perspectives, is dedicated to understanding the wildly heterodox modern right through discussions with authors from across the conservative spectrum. One recent episode featured
, one of my favorite writers on Substack today. For nearly two hours, Walt and Rachel discussed dozens of topics, ranging from autism to white nationalism.Around the 1:11:00 mark, the topic of 9/11’s impact on culture arose. Rachel described those around her as being in a zombie-like state after the attacks, as though everyone was processing “collective trauma.” Walt suggested that the prolonged anxiety of adults then has potentially caused the culture of neuroticism in young adults today. He credited his girlfriend for introducing him to the theory that women pregnant during 9/11 had an extreme anxiety response, causing their unborn children to develop the neurotic temperaments characteristic of young adults today.
Of the dozens of topics covered in the episode, this stuck out to me the most. So, I researched it. Turns out, Walt’s girlfriend may be right.
The human body is a wonderfully complex machine. Though environmental, cultural, and social factors shape who we become, our genetics make up the core of who we are. Genes determine many aspects of a person, such as sex, basic intelligence, appearance, and temperament. Temperament serves as the basis of our personalities—which are molded after birth—and is the driving force in determining how we will respond in a given situation, especially under stress. Temperament development occurs throughout prenatal development, meaning it can be impacted by external factors at any given time.
It is well-known that mothers can affect their prenatal infants for better or worse during pregnancy. This is why expectant mothers are told not to smoke or that they should adopt a high-nutrient diet. When it comes to a child’s temperament development, the same concept applies.
Numerous studies have suggested that when a pregnant mother experiences chronic stress, anxiety, depression, or other forms of prolonged mood instability, her child will be more likely to struggle with the same issues later in life. This is regardless of whether or not the child is genetically predisposed to mood instability and neuroticism. When a mother experiences elevated cortisol levels for extended periods, her child is at risk of developing a low high-frequency heart rate variability (HF-HRV), a common trait for those with unstable temperaments.
An infant can develop low HF-HRV at any time whilst in utero, and will likely carry this altered heart rate into adulthood. Having a low HF-HRV can drastically impact one’s hormone processing and regulation abilities, which in turn affects one’s health and mood. Lower resilience, reduced inhibitions, and maladaptive mood regulation techniques (e.g., rumination, self-harm) are characteristic traits of those low HF-HRV, even without environmental and societal factors encouraging such behaviors. Children born with a low HF-HRV are at an increased risk of later developing type 2 diabetes, arterial hypertension, coronary heart disease, low self-esteem, depression, affective instability, bipolar, and even schizophrenia.
Compare this with those whose mothers did not suffer from mood instability during pregnancy. These children are more likely to be born with a high HF-HRV, and thus are naturally more resilient, less prone to neuroticism, and—if they are predisposed genetically to mood disorders—better able to find healthy coping mechanisms for emotional issues without therapy interventions.
Again, HF variability impacts a person’s emotional regulation regardless of whether they’re genetically predisposed to neuroticism or mood disorders. And while a genetic link can increase the likelihood of a child developing emotional instability, so can a sudden, life-altering event on behalf of the mother.
Shocking and traumatizing, 9/11 signaled the start of many events that kept Americans in a prolonged state of distrust, anxiety, and fear. Pregnant mothers of the time—worried about the state of the nation, their loved ones, and possibly their own lives—would have unknowingly exposed their babies to this stress, thus creating a generation of millions of children born with neurotic temperaments.
Combine this with the shift in popular child-rearing and pedagogical methods that occurred at this time, as covered in Abigail Shrier’s Bad Therapy. In the ‘90s and early 2000’s, parenting books became increasingly popular. However, they didn’t suggest that parents breed discipline, resilience, and confidence in our kids. Rather, they were written by delicate doctors and therapists who believed in “gentle parenting.” According to these alleged experts, the child should never made to grow past their insecurities and weaknesses. Rather, they must always be accommodated. “Let them throw tantrums,” they said. “Let them kick and scream and refuse to listen. Otherwise, they will grow into a repressed adult with unaddressed trauma!” And if all else failed, there were iPhones and a slew of pills to make them sit still.
Millennials and Gen Z were endlessly coddled, sheltered, spoiled, medicated, and entertained. For the unknown number of youth prenatally disposed to neuroticism, this had catastrophic effects on their development. A soft, self-centered, and hedonistic culture only served to solidify their neuroticism, creating a nation of young adults with unstable personalities. They were never taught to cope with frustration or to move past doubts and insecurities. They were never taught to have courage or resilience. Instead, they were encouraged to remain in a child-like state, worsening the depression, irritability, and pessimism they were already at risk of developing before they were born.
Did 9/11 cause the mental health crisis? Possibly.
Though it isn’t the driving force behind it, 9/11 and the other events of the 2000s—the war in Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the subprime mortgage crisis—possibly played a role. As Walt Bismark and his girlfriend suggested, the idea of pregnant mothers having an anxious response to national events and creating neurotic children, as a result, isn’t far-fetched.
Twenty-three years later, and these children are now young adults, trying to find meaning and identity in a world they weren’t properly equipped for. Zoomers have one of two choices: languish and rot, or, come to terms with their with their instability; conquer their neuroticism, self-doubt, and nihilism; and look to the future to build a lasting legacy and a better world for the rising Generation Alpha.
SOURCES:
Da Estrela, C., MacNeil, S., & Gouin, J. (2021). Heart rate variability moderates the between- and within-person associations between daily stress and negative affect. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 162, 79–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2021.02.001
Gullett, N., Zajkowska, Z., Walsh, A., Harper, R., & Mondelli, V. (2023). Heart rate variability (HRV) as a way to understand associations between the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and affective states: A critical review of the literature. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 192, 35–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2023.08.001
Hughes, J. W., & Stoney, C. M. (2000). Depressed mood is related to high-frequency heart rate variability during stressors. Psychosomatic medicine, 62(6), 796–803. https://doi.org/10.1097/00006842-200011000-00009
Semeia, L., Bauer, I., Sippel, K., Hartkopf, J., Schaal, N. K., & Preissl, H. (2023). Impact of maternal emotional state during pregnancy on fetal heart rate variability. Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology, 14, 100181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpnec.2023.100181
Shrier, A. (2024). Bad therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up. Swift Press.
Tegegne, B. S., Man, T., Van Roon, A. M., Asefa, N. G., Riese, H., Nolte, I., & Snieder, H. (2020). Heritability and the Genetic Correlation of Heart Rate Variability and Blood Pressure in >29 000 Families. Hypertension, 76(4), 1256–1262. https://doi.org/10.1161/hypertensionaha.120.15227
Van Den Bergh, B. R., Van Den Heuvel, M. I., Lahti, M., Braeken, M., De Rooij, S. R., Entringer, S., Hoyer, D., Roseboom, T., Räikkönen, K., King, S., & Schwab, M. (2020). Prenatal developmental origins of behavior and mental health: The influence of maternal stress in pregnancy. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews/Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 117, 26–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2017.07.003
Mental health has been a source of interest to our owner/occupiers (priest class) for over a hundred years now.
https://ariaveritas.substack.com/p/waiter-theres-a-persecution-psychosis
9/11 was a similarly a premeditated global shock, like an alarm (clock or fire alarm) going off. Shocks are how we undergo change - for better or worse.
https://ariaveritas.substack.com/p/executing-good-judgement
Both tie in to the so-called 2030 Agenda which is very real but not as the conspiracy theorists suppose (though crossover is possible).
https://ariaveritas.substack.com/p/famous-uranus-cosmic-avenger
If there's only time to read one, the first and last are less technical than the second.
Edit: I don't like people who go round promoting their own stuff on other peoples comment system... I am aware of that at least, so please forgive me. There is cringe in based and based in cringe etc. but the point is deep dives and that's my speciality.
How does this theory comport with human history, though? Humanity is resilient, and has endured far more horrific tragedies than 9/11. If unborn children are as susceptible to stress as this article suggests, that paints humanity as the opposite of resilient, and we would have gone extinct eons ago.