I’m 42 and I’ve suffered from serious depression and drug addiction over the years. It was and still is something I’m not too comfortable talking about. It’s really weird to see young people essentially trying to one-up one another on who is the most clinically screwed up. I hope none of these ladies ever get locked up in a ward because there is nothing glamorous about it.
Thanks for the analysis as always Poppy…the world of social media is beyond confusing to me…and your pieces help me to catch a glimpse of the challenges that the newest generations of kids have to deal with.
It sounds like they are in locked wards, that’s the whole point.
David Morley
1 month ago
And to think, a couple of years ago I would have been in trouble for talking about “crazy girlfriends”. Now they’re on TikTok
Will D. Mann
1 month ago
The stigma of mental illness is still prevalent, even with younger generations its difficult to talk about. Any one who has been in or visited patients in a psychiatric ward will know they are far from being glamorous, people in psychosis neglect personal hygiene, have little interest in their appearance, or anything else other than what is going on in their own heads.
The experience of severe depression is simply awful
There’s a difference between severe mental illness i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, acute anxiety, OCD and personality disorders i.e. body dysmorphia, narcissism and generally annoying people.
Lancashire Lad
1 month ago
Those who.underestimate Poppy’s articles might never have expected to read a reference to Giotto!
I honestly don’t want to delve into this TikTok stuff myself, but am happy to read Poppys reports from the front line. My only question is: how common and representative is this stuff?
ralph bell
1 month ago
A very informative article about modern trends and behaviours.
Certainly lots of group navel gazing going on here, propbably due to too much time online/mobile doom scolling. If only they’d get out more!
Whilst the females are very active about communicating there feelings, its the males still who sadly continue to disproportionately take the drastic suicidal action….
Hard to discount the fact that much of the therapy industry has morphed from beneficial healing, learning and acceptance to willful unending, enabling and encouragement of neurotic excess that feeds the appetite for drama of both the sufferer AND the so-called therapist.
It was only “beneficial healing” if you could afford a private therapist, and then it’s the luck of the draw, because most therapists are themselves unhealed and a lot of projection and counter-transferance goes on.
Paul Airey
1 month ago
Just another boring winge from Popsicles. I pray for the Caliphate to put these useless females in their place.
David Morley
1 month ago
her line of t-shirts, emblazoned with the phrase “BPD girl summer”
Thats actually pretty good!
Would these girls actually qualify as influencers, showing other girls the products you need to buy to be trendily, perhaps even ironically, mentally ill.
David Morley
1 month ago
I’m not sure how new this difficulty of moving from girlhood to womanhood really is.
There have always been the girls who wear oversized sweaters til they get used to the idea of having breasts, the exaggerated (feigned?) anger at suddenly getting attention from men, the ones who continue to wear childish clothing as if they are still being dressed by mum, and of course the ones who duck femininity by adopting masculine dress styles while eschewing, even hating on, men.
Some grow out of it, some reach some kind of compromise, and some never really resolve it. And of course some girls sail through it no problem.
It was always very visible at university, where relaxed attitudes and dress codes allowed it to be indulged – social media has just made it more visible and acceptable.
Unfortunately the world these girls are growing into is porn-sodden, with the dystopia of compulsory performative sexual behaviours before these girls are even allowed to fall in love. It’s so utterly worse for them this century than the last. No wonder so many declaring they’re boys or “asexual” to escape. Or either feigning or experiencing mental illness as above. Very sad.
David Morley
1 month ago
Had a look at the TikTok video and didn’t really know what to make of it. To begin with I thought it might be fake or a parody. What runs through it is a bizarre form of attention seeking – it left me wondering if she was misdiagnosed and had NPD. I found it oddly disturbing. Would be interested in what others think. How common is this stuff.
Paul Airey
1 month ago
Get rid of Poppy the winging adolescent.
Our future Islamic government will sort this nonsense in short order. Bring it on. Can’t happen too soon.
Evan Heneghan
1 month ago
Good article Poppy, and a sad insight into our times.
Tony Lee
1 month ago
Late catching up to read this article. Poppy Sowerby is an excellent writer and observer in my opinion. I’m 70 in March, with two divorces behind me, five ‘kids’ (ages 23 to 42), 17 years of counselling for manic depression (now more ‘sexily’ described as bipolar) and 6 years as a recovered alcoholic, during which time I’ve attended thousands of meetings and worked with maybe a hundred alcoholics. My point being that I’ve seen and heard just about everything about addiction and mental health trauma and self-obsession is never a cure. The dopamine-driven need for attention brought about by self-pity, resentment, self-loathing etc can only burn itself out, leaving the sufferer in even worse shape than before and returned to addiction or trauma or both. Society is acting as an enabler on a vast and growing scale, as illustrated in the article. The answer in my experience, is in finding the honesty, openness and willingness to confront our demons, and not in performing to an audience. Hopefully these troubled souls will find a solution.
Samantha Stevens
28 days ago
As HS teacher, I see this all the time. Mental health and disability diagnoses that are essential to being helped have been trivialized into quirky personality traits. This is especially true of autism where so many people claim to be “on the spectrum” and use it as an excuse for rudeness, laziness, and or antisocial behavior.
As the mother of a lovely, polite, sweet, hardworking autistic daughter, I feel so frustrated by the dilution of the word autism. It relegates people who are truly struggling with autism to the sidelines of the conversation and support. My daughter will never live independently, drive, have children, etc. Her autism impairs many aspects of her life. BUT she is a wonderful human being and her life has sacred value.
I don’t understand why young people today need SO MUCH attention. If anything, their parents pay MORE attention to them than any previous generation. Perhaps it’s social media, but it’s never enough.
Children thrive with unconditional love AND clear boundaries. Parents need to be in charge, so children can explore the world in safe parameters. This crazy “the child knows what he/she needs” is creating all this narcissism and anxiety.
I’m 42 and I’ve suffered from serious depression and drug addiction over the years. It was and still is something I’m not too comfortable talking about. It’s really weird to see young people essentially trying to one-up one another on who is the most clinically screwed up. I hope none of these ladies ever get locked up in a ward because there is nothing glamorous about it.
Thanks for the analysis as always Poppy…the world of social media is beyond confusing to me…and your pieces help me to catch a glimpse of the challenges that the newest generations of kids have to deal with.
It sounds like they are in locked wards, that’s the whole point.
And to think, a couple of years ago I would have been in trouble for talking about “crazy girlfriends”. Now they’re on TikTok
The stigma of mental illness is still prevalent, even with younger generations its difficult to talk about. Any one who has been in or visited patients in a psychiatric ward will know they are far from being glamorous, people in psychosis neglect personal hygiene, have little interest in their appearance, or anything else other than what is going on in their own heads.
The experience of severe depression is simply awful
There’s a difference between severe mental illness i.e. schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, acute anxiety, OCD and personality disorders i.e. body dysmorphia, narcissism and generally annoying people.
Those who.underestimate Poppy’s articles might never have expected to read a reference to Giotto!
I’m coming round to her writing, I have to say.
Another thoughful, well written article. Thank you.
Yes – with a clear message at the end.
I honestly don’t want to delve into this TikTok stuff myself, but am happy to read Poppys reports from the front line. My only question is: how common and representative is this stuff?
A very informative article about modern trends and behaviours.
Certainly lots of group navel gazing going on here, propbably due to too much time online/mobile doom scolling. If only they’d get out more!
Whilst the females are very active about communicating there feelings, its the males still who sadly continue to disproportionately take the drastic suicidal action….
Not so, they each use different methods.
This performance has been brought to you by ta ran tarra The Royal College of Psychiatrists.
As always, follow the money.
Hard to discount the fact that much of the therapy industry has morphed from beneficial healing, learning and acceptance to willful unending, enabling and encouragement of neurotic excess that feeds the appetite for drama of both the sufferer AND the so-called therapist.
It was only “beneficial healing” if you could afford a private therapist, and then it’s the luck of the draw, because most therapists are themselves unhealed and a lot of projection and counter-transferance goes on.
Just another boring winge from Popsicles. I pray for the Caliphate to put these useless females in their place.
Thats actually pretty good!
Would these girls actually qualify as influencers, showing other girls the products you need to buy to be trendily, perhaps even ironically, mentally ill.
I’m not sure how new this difficulty of moving from girlhood to womanhood really is.
There have always been the girls who wear oversized sweaters til they get used to the idea of having breasts, the exaggerated (feigned?) anger at suddenly getting attention from men, the ones who continue to wear childish clothing as if they are still being dressed by mum, and of course the ones who duck femininity by adopting masculine dress styles while eschewing, even hating on, men.
Some grow out of it, some reach some kind of compromise, and some never really resolve it. And of course some girls sail through it no problem.
It was always very visible at university, where relaxed attitudes and dress codes allowed it to be indulged – social media has just made it more visible and acceptable.
Unfortunately the world these girls are growing into is porn-sodden, with the dystopia of compulsory performative sexual behaviours before these girls are even allowed to fall in love. It’s so utterly worse for them this century than the last. No wonder so many declaring they’re boys or “asexual” to escape. Or either feigning or experiencing mental illness as above. Very sad.
Had a look at the TikTok video and didn’t really know what to make of it. To begin with I thought it might be fake or a parody. What runs through it is a bizarre form of attention seeking – it left me wondering if she was misdiagnosed and had NPD. I found it oddly disturbing. Would be interested in what others think. How common is this stuff.
Get rid of Poppy the winging adolescent.
Our future Islamic government will sort this nonsense in short order. Bring it on. Can’t happen too soon.
Good article Poppy, and a sad insight into our times.
Late catching up to read this article. Poppy Sowerby is an excellent writer and observer in my opinion. I’m 70 in March, with two divorces behind me, five ‘kids’ (ages 23 to 42), 17 years of counselling for manic depression (now more ‘sexily’ described as bipolar) and 6 years as a recovered alcoholic, during which time I’ve attended thousands of meetings and worked with maybe a hundred alcoholics. My point being that I’ve seen and heard just about everything about addiction and mental health trauma and self-obsession is never a cure. The dopamine-driven need for attention brought about by self-pity, resentment, self-loathing etc can only burn itself out, leaving the sufferer in even worse shape than before and returned to addiction or trauma or both. Society is acting as an enabler on a vast and growing scale, as illustrated in the article. The answer in my experience, is in finding the honesty, openness and willingness to confront our demons, and not in performing to an audience. Hopefully these troubled souls will find a solution.
As HS teacher, I see this all the time. Mental health and disability diagnoses that are essential to being helped have been trivialized into quirky personality traits. This is especially true of autism where so many people claim to be “on the spectrum” and use it as an excuse for rudeness, laziness, and or antisocial behavior.
As the mother of a lovely, polite, sweet, hardworking autistic daughter, I feel so frustrated by the dilution of the word autism. It relegates people who are truly struggling with autism to the sidelines of the conversation and support. My daughter will never live independently, drive, have children, etc. Her autism impairs many aspects of her life. BUT she is a wonderful human being and her life has sacred value.
I don’t understand why young people today need SO MUCH attention. If anything, their parents pay MORE attention to them than any previous generation. Perhaps it’s social media, but it’s never enough.
Children thrive with unconditional love AND clear boundaries. Parents need to be in charge, so children can explore the world in safe parameters. This crazy “the child knows what he/she needs” is creating all this narcissism and anxiety.