YES! i read this and feel so, so very YES about all of it - especially about the commentary suggesting that simply focusing on what's so great about that time in life should magically lift the anxiety. the fact that young women are sharing their experiences with anxiety & seeking help indicates to me that they're doing the utmost to make sure that they're living well, which is something that is important at all stages of life...not just the nostalgia-inducing years. i wish i had been able to do the same at that age.
Tell ‘em!!! As Olivia Rodrigo puts it, “I'm so sick of 17. Where's my fucking teenage dream? If someone tells me one more time ‘Enjoy your youth,’ I'm gonna cry” 🙏🏼
I liked what you have to say about young people and anxiety. I have young granddaughters I worry about and must admit my own passage through life has been plagued with anxiety. Talking about the elephant in the room and addressing mental health needs is what needs to happen!
TRUTH: “In fact, telling young women to just ‘enjoy’ their lives in the face of a mental health crisis is deeply unhelpful and irresponsible.”
I’ve struggled with my mental health since high school in the mid-1990s, and at 43, today my anxiety is worse than ever. I’ve tried 15 different medications over the years, none of which helped unfortunately, and many had intolerable side effects.
I’ve been off meds for the three years I’ve been trying to conceive and struggling with infertility and five miscarriages, which certainly didn’t improve my anxiety. Now I’m taking a break and I’m in the middle of a long-dreamed-of road trip to Alaska, which is amazing in many ways but has deepened my anxiety even more as I’m living alone in a van. I just wrote a piece on my Substack this week about what the physical and emotional experience of anxiety has been like for me.
Thank you for shedding light on this topic and all the ways anxiety is dismissed by our culture. I think we need more people sharing their stories, which is why I decided to finally tell mine.
Here’s the link to my piece on Van Life and Mental Health, in case you’re interested:
YES! i read this and feel so, so very YES about all of it - especially about the commentary suggesting that simply focusing on what's so great about that time in life should magically lift the anxiety. the fact that young women are sharing their experiences with anxiety & seeking help indicates to me that they're doing the utmost to make sure that they're living well, which is something that is important at all stages of life...not just the nostalgia-inducing years. i wish i had been able to do the same at that age.
anyway, thank you for writing this!!
Tell ‘em!!! As Olivia Rodrigo puts it, “I'm so sick of 17. Where's my fucking teenage dream? If someone tells me one more time ‘Enjoy your youth,’ I'm gonna cry” 🙏🏼
I liked what you have to say about young people and anxiety. I have young granddaughters I worry about and must admit my own passage through life has been plagued with anxiety. Talking about the elephant in the room and addressing mental health needs is what needs to happen!
TRUTH: “In fact, telling young women to just ‘enjoy’ their lives in the face of a mental health crisis is deeply unhelpful and irresponsible.”
I’ve struggled with my mental health since high school in the mid-1990s, and at 43, today my anxiety is worse than ever. I’ve tried 15 different medications over the years, none of which helped unfortunately, and many had intolerable side effects.
I’ve been off meds for the three years I’ve been trying to conceive and struggling with infertility and five miscarriages, which certainly didn’t improve my anxiety. Now I’m taking a break and I’m in the middle of a long-dreamed-of road trip to Alaska, which is amazing in many ways but has deepened my anxiety even more as I’m living alone in a van. I just wrote a piece on my Substack this week about what the physical and emotional experience of anxiety has been like for me.
Thank you for shedding light on this topic and all the ways anxiety is dismissed by our culture. I think we need more people sharing their stories, which is why I decided to finally tell mine.
Here’s the link to my piece on Van Life and Mental Health, in case you’re interested:
www.lizexplores.com/p/van-life-and-mental-health