Kerby Anderson

Kids aren’t growing up. But you already knew that. We now have more evidence for why this is a significant problem. In the past, I have quoted from the book, The Coddling of the American Mind by co-author Jonathan Haidt, who I interviewed on our radio program. He argues that young people are fragile and have been protected by a culture that promotes safety at all costs.

In a new book, Abigail Shrier takes a different look at the problem by focusing on how psychology has become an all-consuming ideology. She argues in Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren’t Growing Up that much of what has been said and written about psychological and emotional “trauma” is wrong. She also argues that kids would be better off if they had no therapy at all.

You might remember her previous book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters. In my interview with her and in her book, she documents the push to medically transition girls who may merely have gender-dysphoria. Her new book picks up with that concern by examining our therapy-obsessed culture. Both Jonathan Haidt and Abigail Shrier reveal that the younger generations are sadder and more emotionally distraught than previous generations.

She argues that our anti-adversity worldview is to blame. Therapy has become an ideology. By talking about trauma and “treating” it, we have robbed an entire generation of character qualities like grit, perseverance, and resilience.

Instead, the writer of Hebrews (12:1) reminds us to “run with endurance the race that is set before us.” James (1:12) says we are blessed if we “remain steadfast under trial.”