Adulting is getting too hard for the Chinese youth leading many to go full baby mode, quite literally, by popping and sucking on pacifiers to soothe the stress away. Yes, you heard that right… pacifiers. From teething toddlers the soothing technique is now the hottest anxiety accessory for fretting adults for whom, debt and dating apps are just getting dreadful. 

Sold as stress-busters and sleep aids, these plastic soothers have become a booming business on Chinese e-commerce sites. Psychologists chalk it up to the “regression phenomenon”: When the pressure to pay EMIs makes you wish you could crawl back into the crib. Users claim pacifiers help them “sleep like a baby” and “bite through stress,” but doctors are throwing a major tantrum over the trend. Prolonged use could mess with your jaw, irritate your gums, and in rare cases, pose choking hazards.

People have gone as far as decorating their pacifiers. PICS/ODDITY CENTRAL