Veteran actress Jaya Bachchan recently shared her candid thoughts on the impact of the internet on today’s generation during an episode of her granddaughter Navya Naveli Nanda’s podcast, What The Hell Navya. The discussion centered around the pros and cons of online culture, with Jaya highlighting the overwhelming nature of information overload in the digital age.

Expressing her concern, Jaya remarked that the younger generation is constantly bombarded with pressure to respond quickly to calls and messages, seeking validation from the online realm. She emphasized that this incessant need for validation and comparison contributes to heightened stress levels among youngsters. Jaya pointed out that the concept of anxiety attacks was foreign during her upbringing and suggested that the surge in anxiety cases can be attributed to the constant influx of information from the internet.

She said, “Navya, what happens among your generation is that ‘answer to the calls quickly, reply to texts quickly’. You get your validation from what you see on the internet and your phone. ‘Are we looking nice? Are we thinking correctly? If you are saying the right thing?’ All this increases your stress levels.”

SEE ALSO: Jaya Bachchan Has A Message For The Haters On Social Media: ‘Dum Hai Toh Shakal Dikhayein’

She added, “We hadn’t heard of an anxiety attack when we were kids. Let alone our childhood, we never heard it in our midlife also. Where does this come from? This comes because you are constantly being fed information. This comes from ‘how does this girl look? How is she getting her nails, makeup?’ Anxiety comes from this. Too much information.”

Contrary to Jaya’s perspective, Navya’s mother, Shweta Bachchan, offered a differing viewpoint, suggesting that anxiety has always existed but is now more openly discussed and identified. She emphasized, “Anxiety was always there. It’s now more identifiable. It’s more spoken about. Even you say I am feeling anxious. It’s just more spoken about, it’s more vocal.”