"Therapy is Destroying Our Kids" | Abigail Shrier

The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish

Farnam Street

Business, Investing, Entrepreneurship

4.7 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 21 May 2024

⏱️ 81 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Investigative journalist Abigail Shrier reveals an uncomfortable truth: our culture's overwhelming embrace of therapy might be harming the next generation. In this thought-provoking conversation, she challenges conventional wisdom about mental health, drawing from extensive research and disturbing patterns among lifelong therapy patients.

Learn when therapy helps, when it hurts, and how successful parents navigate emotional resilience in their children.

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(00:00) Intro

(05:44) Inverse: How do we raise mentally unstable kids?

(08:29) How we got to now

(11:45) Bad therapy...or just social trends?

(13:21) Being your kids' friend: good or bad?

(15:55) The parenting type that raises the BEST kids

(21:35) Is this all the parents' fault?

(29:53) Is "Bad Therapy" a world-wide problem?

(32:57) Talk to your kids' therapist about these things

(42:09) The importance of facing adversity in childhood

(47:06) Can we blame grad schools for all of this?

(49:14) On technology and social media

(51:03) Schools should "never" have gotten involved in mental health

(54:43) Did COVID accelerate "bad therapy?"

(56:07) How to return to normalcy

(58:21) Why Shane shares negative YouTube comments with his kids

(01:01:23) Shrier's experience being "cancelled"

(01:04:13) On prestige media

(01:07:47) Small steps parents can take to return to normal

(01:11:02) Dealing with schools saying one thing and parents saying another

(01:13:32) Why is the silent majority...silent?

(01:16:32) If this continues, what happens?

(01:18:19) What makes someone a successful parent?

Transcript

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0:00.0	So I think we got here through a lot of what I call bad therapy.
0:04.3	Bad therapy is any therapy that introduces new symptoms or makes existing symptoms worse and
0:09.4	by that I mean we're teaching them over and over. Your feelings are the most important thing.
0:14.5	That's what we're broadcasting.
0:15.8	When we constantly ask them how they're feeling.
0:18.6	When we constantly ask them if they're happy,
0:20.8	we're fretting over their happiness.
0:22.4	So we've made
0:22.8	happiness a goal making happiness your goal is a way to make you unhappy.
0:27.6	We're teaching kids they can never ignore any distress, they've never ignore any
0:32.1	pain and so they're not able to do it. Welcome to the Knowledge Project a bi-weekly podcast exploring the powerful ideas, practical methods, and mental models of others.
0:58.0	In a world where knowledge is power, this podcast is your toolkit for mastering the best of what other people have already figured out
1:05.9	I'm your host Shane Parish before we dive in I have a quick favor to ask if you're enjoying the show and listening on Apple Podcasts,
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1:19.0	better guests we can bring on to share their knowledge with you. Thank you for your support.
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1:28.6	FS. blog slash membership. As a member, you'll get my personal reflections at the end of every
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1:43.4	Plus, you'll support the show you love.
1:46.0	Check out the link in the show notes for more information.
1:50.6	Okay, if you're listening with a child around, now might be a good time for you to put on your headphones.
	...

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