Delusions of Grandeur

Lori Gottlieb's article from The Atlantic on How to Land Your Kid in Therapy resonated very strongly with some of the topics I am currently interested in studying. Her observations about the connection between self-esteem, narcissism, and feelings of entitlement are very insightful. I found myself linking her discussion of narcissism back to an article that the Huffington Post Blog shared a few months ago entitled Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy (link below). The post gives a beautifully, brutally honest assessment of why this particular generation of college students (and recent graduates) are ending up in therapy despite their mild, sheltered upbringing. Whereas in past generations, Gottlieb noted that she had no trouble "making connections between [her patient's] grievances and their upbringings," a new trend appeared that was at first difficult to decipher. Patients in their 20's and 30's who had lived relatively privileged, cushy childhoods, were still seeking therapy for feelings of depression or unhappiness.

The Huffington Post blatantly describes what Gottlieb patiently explained in a more politically correct way. Essentially, the blog post explains (with lots of lovely visual aids provided) that there is a disparity between what today's children expect from the so-called "real world" and what reality gives them instead. Children are told that they can do anything they want and that they are exceptionally special. When you set a child's expectations so astronomically high, reality could only be disappointing in comparison to the child's inflated idea of what opportunities the world holds for them. The blogger refers to Generation Y as delusional as a result of being raised to believe that we are somehow more special than all of our peers. Because of our inflated sense of self, we expect that opportunities will be knocking on our door as soon as we graduate from college. We also cringe at the slightest bit of negative feedback because it is in direct conflict with how we perceive ourselves (as essentially perfect).

The blog post concludes with some advice for Generation Y, the most important of which being that we are not special...yet. But we might be able to become special one day if we work incredibly hard for something. And as Gottlieb explains in her article for The Atlantic, we can't continue to tell our kids, "You can do anything you want, you can quit any time..." Kids need encouragement to be sure, but they also need direction, structure, and a grasp on the sometimes harsh nature of reality before stepping into the real world and experiencing it first hand.

Gen Y Article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wait-but-why/generation-y-unhappy_b_3930620.html