“It’s no surprise when a woman becomes her husband’s mashgiach— in essence, that was what she was taught to be”
I’m writing in reference to the letter from a teen who is complaining about her parents not willing to take her for therapy for her self-diagnosed panic attacks. I found the column disconcerting for several reasons. Mainly, I felt the author was villainizing the teenager’s parents.
Who was this article meant for? The teenager who wrote the question? Writing back to her individually should have been enough of an answer.
It feels wrong that the therapy world of today is often glorified, especially to the younger generation. I beg you not to shoot me for that sentence. I do not mean survivors of true trauma, who need to get help as soon as possible, and are justified in using any means as a method to get that help. Many teenagers think they have many illnesses/problems/mental health concerns based on the reading material available to them, combined with the tendency of teens to take situations to extreme levels.
If this parent felt that her daughter’s “panic attacks” could be overcome with breathing techniques, but the child “wanted” to go for therapy, who is Mrs. Kohn to “side” with the teenager? This parent sees her daughter daily, and is seemingly not concerned with her basic functioning skills. A teenager’s own perspective of a problem does not always describe the problem accurately. If you have a 15-year-old at odds with her 38-year-old parent, why are we so quick to assume the 15-year-old is right/knows better?
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