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Hello everybody. I'm Jemma Spike and welcome back to the psychology of your 20s, the podcast where we talk through the biggest changes, moments and transitions of our 20s and what they mean for our psychology.

Hello everybody. Welcome back to the show. Welcome back to the podcast. It is so great to have you here

back for another episode as we of course break down the psychology

of your 20s, psychology of our 20s, psychology of my 20s. You guys have no idea how long I've wanted

to do this episode for. Literally, this has been on my list for, I would say, three years.

And I just never got around to it.

I don't know why.

Probably because I was, like, waiting for this very moment to do an episode on it.

We're talking about a really cool concept today, a little known phenomenon called Peter Pan Syndrome. Let me start this episode with a question.

Have you ever met somebody who just has no desire to grow up, who just wants to have fun all

the time, seems almost like allergic to responsibility or ever getting serious about a job or a relationship who

maybe is like obsessed with reliving things you did in high school as kids, reliving your

uni days despite those times being well and truly done? Do you know this person? Have you,

have you met somebody like this? This is a Peter Pan.

This is Peter Pan Syndrome to a T, a pathological fear of growing up. Not growing older, that's part of it,

but growing up and leaving the spontaneity, the fun, the ease, the lack of responsibility behind.

This is far more common than you may think, but because it's kind of hidden behind nostalgia

or like somebody just trying to figure out their choices or somebody who is enabled by their parents, by their partners,

by their friends.

Not a lot of people talk about it.

What's sad, though, is the damage that Peter Pan syndrome does, not only to the person who is,

...