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Western society is suffering from excessive individualism: Because of our geographically and socially mobile society, people think less in terms of belonging to communities, groups or families, but more in terms of self. As individuals, we stand alone and so are judged by our personal characteristics such as our appearance, exam grades, qualifications, job title, income and possessions. In our heightened state of anxiety, there is a strong tendency to compare ourselves with others, however superficial or irrelevant that comparison might be.

The popular media is responding to and promoting this excessive individualism: Because, as individuals, we lack the sense of security and confidence that comes from feeling that we are a valued member of a community or family, we are prone to feel painfully self-conscious and lonely. This leaves us vulnerable to the media images that encourage us to bolster ourselves by purchasing social props.

Consumer brands are more important than ever before because of the absence of other beacons broadcasting clear and attractive values. Society is losing its usual sources of life-guidance such as the churches and the nuclear and extended family who offer the wisdom and balance of older generations. With the decline of credible alternatives, the marketing media and the new technologies are exerting inordinately powerful influence.

There's message and media overload: The proliferation of TV channels, of internet and of mobile phones within the past five years, means that media messages and communication pretending to offer greater choice, have become increasingly complex and intrusive. (Our ambivalent relationship with new technology has been reflected in the success of films such as Terminator I & II; Enemy of the State; and The Matrix.)

Information is mistaken for understanding, and watching is mistaken for experiencing: Why do it when we can watch it on TV? After all, TV shows provide our surrogate families and regular friends. But is this really living, or are we becoming mere tourists of our own lifetime?

Individuals feel invisible: It's hard to see how we can be significant or valued in a world that seems so fixated on a TV or computer screen, or is talking on a mobile phone to someone seemingly far more interesting than ourselves.

Young people suffer from delayed recognition as fully-fledged adults, mainly because ever more qualifications seem to be required to enter the professional work arena.

There's widespread uncertainty in the job-market: Nobody is sure where the working world is going, or what shape it will take in even two years time, and so nobody knows how to prepare for it.

There are demoralising inequities in the social rewards for one job compared to another: Every day, we read about the £10 million per annum 21 year old soccer star, or the dot-com millionaire aged 25. What does this say about our society's appreciation of the £25,000 per year Secondary School Teacher who just turned 30?

Young people face increased competition for their traditional social roles: The 20-somethings are having to compete socially with a generation of non-parent 30-somethings who have refused to become 'middle-aged'.

Gender roles are shifting painfully: While some young men still feel sore at having lost their inheritance of social privileges and guaranteed employment, young women have the added pressure of expectations to achieve in the new climate that pretends that everything is well within reach now and tilted in their favour.

Study and working-life feel like a treadmill of false progress: There is a nagging suspicion that life is a series of false endings, whereby our striving for school exams only lures us onto a college degree, and then a professional qualification, and then a particular job title and so on towards an ever receding horizon. It's just one essay, one exam, one qualification after another, we can never get ahead, and too rarely if ever have the satisfaction of feeling that something is completed. This constant and excessive work schedule not only brings exhaustion and loneliness, but leads to neurotic and compulsive thinking, and physical ticks and twitches.

We punish ourselves for not reaching targets set for us by media, parents and the education system. We're encouraged to be very self-critical, and we suspect that we don't come up to some imaginary mark. Angry with ourselves, we adopt self-punishing behaviours, denying ourselves even fundamental and positive pleasures. Occasionally we crack, and to escape our painful feelings we binge on such things as fiction or fantasy or food or drugs or ill-considered sexual relationships.

Eating disorders among teenage girls have reached epidemic proportions: 8 in 10 teenage girls have 'an unhelpful relationship with food', which means fads, diets, guilt, junk-food, or some degree of bulimia, all of which lead to insufficient daily nutrition, resulting in impaired physical growth and impaired mental development.

Young guys feel worried and depressed at the prospect of being regarded as 'losers' in a complex working world that feels as though it's denying them a place while favouring young women professionally.

We're disappointed with ourselves and our lives. We don't like the way that we're irritable with other people, the way we're nervous of the consequences of what we do and say, that we're shy and neurotic and awkward inside ourselves, and daren't pursue even our dearest-held dreams. Our daily life feels homogeneous and sanitised, and we wonder what it would be like to live a while with the throttle wide open. We fear reaching 30 and looking back with the pain of regret for things not said and done.

Feeling faintly miserable is our average emotion - the general 'default emotion' because every day life feels almost out of control, teetering on the brink of disaster, where all the demands will overwhelm us like a tidal wave. We know that our goal in life is to be happy; but we really aren't sure how to achieve this. Rebellion isn't just around the corner, but disillusionment is, eased only by time in the company of our much-loved friends.

The changing dynamics of the family: Either because of parental separation or demanding parental careers, the young person has less time with mums and dads, aunts, uncles and grandparents who once would have offered reassurance and guidance. Some teenagers are even having to 'parent their single parents' when either mum or dad faces a mid-life crisis precipitated by the rapidly changing world. This too-early burden of responsibility can often result in the teenager forfeiting important aspects of their own adolescence.

Overstretched educational institutions: Schools and universities are adversely affected by the climate of financial pressure and administrative complexity, while teachers and lecturers are themselves affected by the numerous demands on individuals that are oultined above. This means that educational institutions are less effective in their crucial role of inspiring and supporting a young individual's life-values.

The dilution of religious influence: There is only minority acceptance of the traditional religious life-codes, and church-related support groups attract little popularity.