I’ve thought this was the case for awhile now but there is some push back to this line of thought these days.
Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up Abigail Shrier Swift Press, Feb 27, 2024 - Social Science - 288 pages From the author of Irreversible Damage, an investigation into how mental health overdiagnosis is harming, not helping, children
‘A pacy, no-holds barred attack on mental health professionals and parenting experts … thought-provoking’ Financial Times
‘A message that parents, teachers, mental health professionals and policymakers need to hear’ New Statesman
In virtually every way that can be measured, Gen Z’s mental health is worse than that of previous generations. Youth suicide rates are climbing, antidepressant prescriptions for children are common, and the proliferation of mental health diagnoses has not helped the staggering number of kids who are lonely, lost, sad and fearful of growing up. What’s gone wrong?
In Bad Therapy, bestselling investigative journalist Abigail Shrier argues that the problem isn’t the kids – it’s the mental health experts. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with child psychologists, parents, teachers and young people themselves, Shrier explores the ways the mental health industry has transformed the way we teach, treat, discipline and even talk to our kids. She reveals that most of the therapeutic approaches have serious side effects and few proven benefits: for instance, talk therapy can induce rumination, trapping children in cycles of anxiety and depression; while ‘gentle parenting’ can encourage emotional turbulence – even violence – in children as they lash out, desperate for an adult to be in charge.
Mental health care can be lifesaving when properly applied to children with severe needs, but for the typical child, the cure can be worse than the disease. Bad Therapy is a must-read for anyone questioning why our efforts to support our kids have backfired – and what it will take for parents to lead a turnaround.
https://books.google.com/books/about/Bad_Therapy.html?id=5FfUEAAAQBAJ&source=kp_book_description
In virtually every way that can be measured, Gen Z’s mental health is worse than that of previous generations […] What’s gone wrong?
Answer: Shit’s bad and getting worse (especially for younger generations) while the old & rich people in charge twiddle their thumbs because “I got mine, fuck you.” Any other questions?
I definitely wouldn’t conclude that anything the mental health industry did or didn’t do has anything to do with the mental health of youth today; given current circumstances the kids who are alright are the abnormal ones.
Currently reading Nobodys Normal by anthropologist Roy Richard Grinker.
It’s a hard read as I’m constantly googling how he did his research. But I do absolutely agree with his theory that “normal” assumes there’s a baseline of what that looks like. And that data is impossible to get at the current time, only when you look back on it.
For example, we have data to identify what normal can look like in 1920 based on averages. But it’ll be pretty racist and not what people want to hear, and it’s also missing a lot like accurate health records and the huge percentage of people who were misdiagnosed or undocumented.
Overall, I agree. There is no normal.
Here’s my similar shower thought: NOBODY is neurotypical. Neurotypical is just the theoretical exact middle of every personality. It’s a completely average person, but nobody fits the description.
My opinion is that if you obsess about trying to co-opt the concept of “diagnosis” so that you can have a word for yourself when you’re 0.1σ off the median, then that word exists, but it’s just “narcissist”.
Funny, for me, narcissist is being mentally unhealthy but rejecting that possibility, designating yourself the definition of normal, and considering everyone who isn’t you the mentally unhealthy one.
I think if society is putting “normal” on a pedestal, admiring and adoring that “trait”, that’s what a narcissist will want to be viewed as, and would fight any statement suggesting the contrary.
In the last decade, I’d say that there have been plenty of examples of social media elevating and celebrating many neuro-divergent conditions. Autism, ADHD, Tourette’s and DID.
I think that’s awesome, and I love it, and I never want things to go back on this. My nephews are diagnosed by an actual doctor neurospicy and I’m like, overcome and overwhelmed with gratitude that they’ll get to opportunity to grow up in a world of acceptance that I couldn’t have dared to dream could exist when I was a kid.
But, this new reality has brought out the narcissists like flies to honey. Suddenly everyone was self diagnosing DID. The irony being that they don’t have DID, but that it’s a huge red flag for narcissism.
What is DID?
The real acronym for multiple personalities disorder. It spiked in popularity in 2021-22.
Disassociative Identity Disorder.
Obsession, narcissism, I dunno, sounds like a disorder to me.
I disagree. A theoretical exact middle is a single point within the n-dimensional space that describes mindset. In reality, there’s a pretty wide swath of what’s considered “normal”; it occupies a volume in that n-dimensional space.
I interpret it as the “average man” phenomenon. If you take all of the “average” measure for a man in all aspects, you’ll find that what you get barely resembles human. To me, that’s the same effect the OP is getting at. Someone falling into the “normal” range on absolutely every single metric would be kinda weird, and probably its own abnormality.
Without knowing much about psychology, I would imagine separating the mindset into a set of orthogonal axis is pretty difficult and certainly the normal range would probably not follow a normal distribution in each axis. As a result the N-dimensional volume would not be a N-sphere but some complex topological shape. Possibly even consisting of multiple disjointed sets. If any of these assumptions are true then the global point average over the entire space may lie outside many of the “normal” ranges.
Ok, there WAS that one guy, but he died in the 80s.
it’s like the story of the USfighter jets they built it to the avg male thinking it would work for anyone but ended working for noone.
What’re you talking about? I have 2.3 children, my lifespan is 76.4 years, and i am perfectly neurotypical.
Sounds like a great pharma tagline
TV show or movie, but I’m pretty sure IRL there would be considerable backlash. Especially from brittle egoed people who are secretly afraid.
Normal is when the crazy you have doesn’t impact your ability to function in society. So no. Not everyone struggles daily to exist.
they dont?
Maybe they struggle with finances or situations or something. But no, normal people don’t struggle against their own mind to just exist.
What do you mean “to exist”? I can go completely unconscious and still exist right?
: / ima just ignore that
The best therapist I’ve known had a neat little cross-stitich on her lobby wall that said:
“Normal is just a setting on your washing machine.”
Every mode of human thought and behavior is represented by a spectrum. There is never a clear boundary between normality and mental illness.
Ha! Love that and totally gonna steal it even though I’m sure I’ll also forget it as well lol
Awesome comment! Thanks for sharing.
My washing machine only has „scolding hot“ and „heartless cold“. Does it need help? /jk
Sounds like my ex heyoo
Hahaha
Maybe you should add a bit of lithium with the detergent.
Fun fact there was a guy who lied and said he was insane in court. He got stuck in the funny farm for long after his original sentence. He would do his best to act normal and he even dressed in a suite and tie. Everything he did was evidence he was deranged according to the state phycologists.
I’m not necessarily sure if that can be correct, depending on the definition. If you are defining a disease or disorder as being abnormal, then perhaps it may have a case there. But many diseases and disorders are defined by whether or not a trait disrupts quality of life. A person may be abnormal, but it doesn’t affect how they live. Therefore, no disease. With this definition, many people can be normal
I appreciate the engagement, but it’s a shower thought bro, not a thesis or dissertation. :)
Well my friends are normal, your friends are weird
I’m not sick! I’m not sick! I’m really not sick!
No
Denial is the first step towards acceptance.
Bro, you can’t say that to people. No means no.
The math for those who are into that sort of thing:
no = no
Accordingly:
cat = cat
hat = hat
When someone tells you who they are, believe them
I am an honest person, and I have a once in a lifetime deal for you, Lemmy.
- phycologists, probably
Get help if you have serious issues like depression. However, pretty much everyone has ADHD by the standards of some of these professionals. It starts to go from legitimate need to making people feel special.
I really have no need to feel special. Maybe a little, but it’s not a main driver for me. I just want that adderall.
Expensive therapists love this one trick!
