Millennials and Generation Z are often dubbed the “therapy generations,” known for prioritising mental health and seeking counselling when they need it.
Where does that leave Gen X? Is the demographic known for its independent streak and “whatever” attitude similarly blasé about getting a therapist?
Many Gen Xers – those born between about 1965 and 1980 – came of age in a time when seeking help wasn’t as normalised. For some, a “shadow of a stigma” still lingers, said Tracy Douglas, a therapist in Wisconsin who specialises in supporting Gen X clients.
Mental health wasn’t exactly a dinner table topic in the ’70s and ’80s, she said. Apart from a Woody Allen film – or the kind of urbane circles those movies depicted – it wasn’t really talked about at all.
“Therapy wasn’t seen as a proactive tool for healing and growth so much as it was an absolute last resort to turn to,” Douglas, who was born in 1970 herself, told HuffPost. “Because of that, many Gen Xers can still have a sense that they should be able to muscle through troubles on their own.”
For some Gen Xers, off-putti...
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