Riley* was diagnosed with obsessive-compulsive disorder and anxiety at age 14, but he never thought it would affect his application to the Australian Defence Force as an adult. He had progressed successfully through the application process after graduating from school, until revealing to a recruitment psychologist that he had experienced mental health difficulties as a teenager.
" Clinical psychologist Danielle Einstein told The Feed over email that anxiety is more "feared" in the community generally. "However, it is hard to know whether concerns about anxiety have driven a reduction in army recruitment for Gen Z - or whether the drop has been driven by a change in Gen Z values played out through social media," Einstein said.