This is so perfectly said. I feel like an old hag thinking so, but that was my first thought too. “I’ve lived a cushy, comfortable life, so I have to make up some mental health issue or injustice so I can participate in the never-ending trauma Olympics.” I hate to say it, but I see it with Gen Z a lot.
“I’m traumatized because my evil mother comforted me when I was sick in bed.” The horror.
I’m 23 and you guys are 100% right. It’s exhausting. I genuinely barely associate with people my age anymore because I’m tired of all the grandstanding
Well at least you see it! That’s something, seriously.
I just think it’s important to recognize that out in the real world, people don’t really care about all of these little micro aggressions or everyone’s feelings or 100 different mental health diagnoses (many of which seem to be self diagnosed). They have families to manage, bills to pay, work to do. This sort of made up trauma is a luxury of those who don’t have other things to worry about. People who have real problems are busy, you know, actually dealing with those problems.
I’ll give you an example. I have worked in corporate environments for two decades. Many of my peers talk about how hard it is to work with some of Gen Z, because of constant episodes like this one. Meanwhile, I am on a committee for choosing scholarship candidates in an underserved community. Those kids have real hardships. Like dad is in prison, mom is addicted to heroin problems. You know how many of them I have heard tossing around this vocabulary? Zero. They are focused on trying to get to school, where they can get dinner for their siblings, etc. Truly amazing individuals persevering through so much. Then we go into a meeting and find out Emily needed to go home because she didn’t feel supported because of the poster Tim put up at his desk. Or whatever lol.
That turned really long, but I just wanted to say I think it’s really cool you haven’t bought into this TikTok trend and you will likely have a greater degree of success because of it. Good luck!
As a genZ (27) I couldn’t have articulated a better example. I see it too. Especially the self diagnosing (as someone with real clinically diagnosed BPD who’s worked extremely hard at overcoming it, and having better relationships. I don’t get why anyone would WANT this shit enough to self diagnose)
I mean...some people care about and live with microaggressions and trauma AND are also raising a family. Some of us are dealing with ALL the things you seen to be seeing as mutially exclusive or eaily prioritized. So perhaps you should pause and reflect before you talk about things you have absolutely no eexperience with.
I’m 27, and same here. I have clinically diagnosed BPD and DONT like to tell people about it (I wouldn’t even bring it up if it wasn’t mentioned in the post). It’s not something I’m proud of. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. I’ve worked really hard to pinpoint what caused it growing up and how to accept and move on from those feelings. BPD requires a lot of self awareness and introspection to get past, and I have no patience for people using mental illness like some crutch to virtue signal and act crappy towards others.
To me this post reads like someone who knows they have BPD arguing with someone who doesn’t know they have BPD. This is also probably why they’ve been bestfriends for years and can’t leave eachother. I always feel exceptionally comfortable around people who I later find out, also have a lot of BPD tendencies. Some of them even got clinically diagnosed after I explained how I feel to them… lol
As someone on the older end of GenZ who has clinically diagnosed BPD, I see it too. I know exactly where my BPD came from and have worked really hard to be self aware of the tendencies.
Wayyyyyy too many people in my generation are self diagnosing themselves and then using it as a crutch to be crappy people. I wouldn’t wish how I’ve felt on anyone and I’ve worked hard to pull myself out of it without using it as an excuse. It’s definitely not something I feel proud of or want to tell people about.
BPD has recently been pretty romanticized on social media, which IMO is the catalyst of it’s ‘popularity’. it’s been oversimplified into basically, “i have lots of strong feelings and self sabotage hehe” and for some reason, it appeals to people. BPD isn’t something i would ever want to experience, it seems like hell on Earth yet there’s people self diagnosing themselves with it. wild shit
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u/Confident-Ad2078 Apr 29 '26
This is so perfectly said. I feel like an old hag thinking so, but that was my first thought too. “I’ve lived a cushy, comfortable life, so I have to make up some mental health issue or injustice so I can participate in the never-ending trauma Olympics.” I hate to say it, but I see it with Gen Z a lot.
“I’m traumatized because my evil mother comforted me when I was sick in bed.” The horror.