Abstract
This study investigates the digital renegotiation of mental health struggles among Generation Z (Gen Z) by analyzing the visual, sonic, and textual strategies of "anxiety memes" on TikTok. As the first digitally native generation to experience unprecedented levels of diagnosed anxiety, Gen Z has turned to short-form vertical video platforms to express psychological distress. Utilizing a Multimodal Discourse Analysis (MDA) framework, we examined a purposive sample of 150 high-engagement TikTok videos tagged with anxiety-related hashtags. Our analysis reveals how creators assemble disparate semiotic resources—including trending audio tracks, self-deprecating text overlays, rapid editing cuts, and deadpan physical performances—to construct a distinct "aesthetic of anxiety." The findings indicate that these memes function as tools for collective coping, allowing users to externalize internal distress through shared cultural templates. Rather than trivializing mental illness, these multimodal assemblages foster a unique form of ambient affiliation and digital solidarity, redefining how youth communicate vulnerability in highly algorithmic spaces. However, the study also highlights the tension between therapeutic community-building and the potential normalization or romanticization of chronic psychological distress within algorithmic echo chambers.
