Stressed Gen Z is carrying around ‘anxiety bags’ with tools to calm their nerves


Hannah Fowles was spiraling. 

It had been a grueling day at work, and by the time the 22-year-old from Provo, Utah, got home, panic was bubbling in her chest as her thoughts raced and her cheeks flushed red.

“I was starting to get super overheated and I couldn’t calm myself down,” Fowles told The Post. “Nothing that I normally do, like breathing exercises or lying down in a dark room, was working.”

Then she saw the bag.

Just weeks earlier, Fowles and her therapist had put together a small, grab-and-go kit filled with items to help calm her mind when anxiety strikes — an idea she’d first come across while scrolling on TikTok.

She now reached for it, swallowing her anxiety medication and pressing a cold pack to the back of her neck. She flicked on a small portable fan, letting the cool air wash over her face, while in her other hand, she gripped a spiky fidget toy, feeling its prongs dig into her palm as the panic began to ebb. 

Keep reading here.