DeepSummary
The episode is an interview with Abigail Schreier, the author of 'Irreversible Damage' and her new book 'Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren't Growing Up.' Schreier discusses the concerning trend of a generation that has received the most mental health treatment and yet displays high levels of anxiety, depression, and lack of interest in growing up. She argues that over-treatment, over-diagnosis, and over-therapizing of well children without severe problems is causing harm.
Schreier explains that therapy can be helpful for those with severe issues, but exposing well children to therapy risks alienating them from parents, pathologizing normal struggles, and instilling a self-concept of being unwell. She criticizes approaches like 'The Body Keeps the Score' for promoting damaging ideas about trauma imprinting and recovered memories.
The discussion also touches on the role of religion, community, and authoritative (loving yet firm) parenting styles in promoting mental health. Schreier encourages parents to regain confidence, resist deferring excessively to experts, and question the growing culture of therapy in schools.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- Over-therapizing and over-diagnosing children who do not have severe mental health issues can be harmful by fostering a self-concept of being unwell.
- Exposing children to too much focus on feelings and emotions in therapy can increase anxiety, depression, and alienation from parents.
- The prevalence of mental health treatment in schools has paradoxically coincided with increased struggles in the current generation of children.
- Authoritative (loving yet firm) parenting styles tend to produce better mental health outcomes than authoritarian or permissive styles.
- Parents should be wary of deferring excessively to mental health experts and regain confidence in traditional parenting wisdom.
- Certain therapeutic approaches like "The Body Keeps the Score" may promote damaging ideas about trauma imprinting.
- Religion and community can provide many of the psychological benefits sought through therapy.
- Childhood struggles do not necessarily require clinical intervention and may be better addressed through changes in environment and parenting.
Top Episodes Quotes
- βSo there are a few things. First of all, they don't even need to be taken to a therapist. They're getting this at school. The kids are being flooded with therapy. That's why they think. They never say, I'm worried. They say I have anxiety. They never say, I'm sad. They say, I'm depressed.β by Abigail Schreier
- βWell, two, I guess they're two different groups. So in the school systems, they have no choice. They are the captive patient pool of social, emotional, learning and other mental health interventions. And this is poor kids as well as rich kids, okay? In public school, they are absolutely captive to this, where teachers and counselors are playing therapist.β by Abigail Schreier
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Episode Information
The Andrew Klavan Show
The Daily Wire
3/27/24