I couldn't agree with this more. As mother of a 13 year old daughter, who is forever mentioning a different friend who "has anxiety", I seem to spend my life reminding her that it's possible to FEEL anxious (about perfectly understandable things!) and not "have anxiety". It saddens me that this generation seem to be getting the message that these feelings aren't normal, but instead mean they have a 'condition' of some sort. The self-fulfilling prophecy of that seems all too obvious.
Thank you Jo 🙏🏽 Sadly I hear these concerns about young people and their understanding of mental health a lot, even involving what they’re being taught in school! I do worry that it’s almost fashionable now to have some kind of (often self diagnosed) mental health ‘label’. We just need to keep reinforcing the distinction between normal difficult/distressing feelings and illness. Your daughter clearly has the advantage of having a very sensible mother!
Another excellent article, Romy. I very much agree x
Thanks so much Lizzie 🙏🏽💕x
I couldn't agree with this more. As mother of a 13 year old daughter, who is forever mentioning a different friend who "has anxiety", I seem to spend my life reminding her that it's possible to FEEL anxious (about perfectly understandable things!) and not "have anxiety". It saddens me that this generation seem to be getting the message that these feelings aren't normal, but instead mean they have a 'condition' of some sort. The self-fulfilling prophecy of that seems all too obvious.
Thank you Jo 🙏🏽 Sadly I hear these concerns about young people and their understanding of mental health a lot, even involving what they’re being taught in school! I do worry that it’s almost fashionable now to have some kind of (often self diagnosed) mental health ‘label’. We just need to keep reinforcing the distinction between normal difficult/distressing feelings and illness. Your daughter clearly has the advantage of having a very sensible mother!