Page 2 | To think adulthood has become far too therapy-speak centric?

Bouliegirl · 12/12/2025 17:29

Yeah, I’ve got a friend who uses this sort of language.

SmalllChange · 12/12/2025 17:28

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:26

Yes, I think that’s a big part of it. It does feel generational, especially with how much therapy language circulates online now. Different norms, different vocabularies.

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I have worked with a few arty farty types (culture and heritage) who very much speak like that too and they're mostly over 40 and 50.

Original poster

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:28

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 12/12/2025 17:23

Is it overuse or is it appropriate use of language to describe what people experience and have experienced? A great many humans are awful to others, and many people don't realise how badly they are treated because they've never known any different.

I think it can be both. For some people, that language is genuinely helpful in naming experiences they didn’t previously have words for, especially where harm or dysfunction was normalised. My point isn’t that the language itself is wrong but that it sometimes gets applied so broadly that everyday discomforts or disagreements are framed as pathology. That’s where I think it tips from useful into overused.

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Sharptonguedwoman · 12/12/2025 17:27

DaisyChain505 · 12/12/2025 17:25

Or this generation is just better at communicating and talking about their feelings instead of the generation before us who were taught to never talk about our feelings or what’s going on in the home and as a result they suffered in silence, lived miserable lives and passed on the traumas that you’re talking about people currently voicing.

Been reading Larkin?

Bambamhoohoo · 12/12/2025 17:27

I think it should be more therapy like. Up with emotional intelligence and being aware of our behaviours! Up with boundaries and self care!

ilovesooty · 12/12/2025 17:26

Well just tell people who talk like this that their conversation is a pain in the arse then. Or just nod and disengage from it.

Original poster

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:26

Littlejellyuk · 12/12/2025 17:21

I have found that younger people who I chat with speak like this. They are all more tech savvy than me as well. 🙃
My 40 year old friends (and older) don't tend to use these phrases.
It's different strokes for different folks.
Maybe it's a generational thing? 🤷‍♀️

@CleverGoldSwan

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Yes, I think that’s a big part of it. It does feel generational, especially with how much therapy language circulates online now. Different norms, different vocabularies.

OP posts:

DaisyChain505 · 12/12/2025 17:25

Or this generation is just better at communicating and talking about their feelings instead of the generation before us who were taught to never talk about our feelings or what’s going on in the home and as a result they suffered in silence, lived miserable lives and passed on the traumas that you’re talking about people currently voicing.

SmalllChange · 12/12/2025 17:24

Oh God yes.

It seems to start before adulthood as many teenagers are all about 'My truth' and 'My journey' etc.

It seems to be learned internet speak.

StrictlyAFemaleFemale · 12/12/2025 17:23

Is it overuse or is it appropriate use of language to describe what people experience and have experienced? A great many humans are awful to others, and many people don't realise how badly they are treated because they've never known any different.

Original poster

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:22

DysmalRadius · 12/12/2025 17:16

It very much depends on the context surely?

Yes, context matters. I’m talking about situations where everyday disagreements or discomforts are immediately framed in clinical or therapeutic language, rather than being handled as normal human interactions.

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Littlejellyuk · 12/12/2025 17:21

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:13

Every discussion now seems to involve “trauma,” “boundaries,” “emotional labour,” “attachment styles,” etc. I’m not dismissing mental health at all but AIBU to think we’re pathologising normal human frustrations?
Not everything is a wound that needs unpacking.

Sometimes things are just life.

I have found that younger people who I chat with speak like this. They are all more tech savvy than me as well. 🙃
My 40 year old friends (and older) don't tend to use these phrases.
It's different strokes for different folks.
Maybe it's a generational thing? 🤷‍♀️

@CleverGoldSwan

Original poster

CleverGoldSwan · 12/12/2025 17:21

Pootles34 · 12/12/2025 17:16

Really? Are your friends in therapy or something? Don't think this has ever happened to me! Don't you just discuss the weather, how busy town is, Christmas? It does sound like you need new mates!

I’m not talking about everyday small talk, of course people still chat about normal things.
I mean when conflict, disagreement or ordinary stress comes up, the language used to interpret it increasingly defaults to therapy frameworks rather than common sense, resilience or context. It’s more noticeable online and in advice spaces than over coffee chats but it does bleed into real life.

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Graciously · 12/12/2025 17:17

Agreed. But not my friends, more younger people than me. Speaking about validating their feelings etc

DysmalRadius · 12/12/2025 17:16

It very much depends on the context surely?

Pootles34 · 12/12/2025 17:16

Really? Are your friends in therapy or something? Don't think this has ever happened to me! Don't you just discuss the weather, how busy town is, Christmas? It does sound like you need new mates!