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In virtually every way that can be measured, Gen Z\\u2019s mental health is worse than that of previous generations. Youth suicide rates are climbing, antidepressant prescriptions for children are common, and the proliferation of mental health diagnoses has not helped the staggering number of kids who are lonely, lost, sad and fearful of growing up. What\\u2019s gone wrong with America\\u2019s youth?

In Bad Therapy, bestselling investigative journalist Abigail Shrier argues that the problem isn\\u2019t the kids\\u2014it\\u2019s the mental health experts. Drawing on hundreds of interviews with child psychologists, parents, teachers, and young people, Shrier explores the ways the mental health industry has transformed the way we teach, treat, discipline, and even talk to our kids. She reveals that most of the therapeutic approaches have serious side effects and few proven benefits. Among her unsettling findings:

• talk therapy can induce rumination, trapping children in cycles of anxiety and depression
• social Emotional Learning handicaps our most vulnerable children, in both public schools and private
• \\u201cgentle parenting\\u201d can encourage emotional turbulence \\u2013 even violence \\u2013 in children as they lash out, desperate for an adult in charge.

Mental health care can be lifesaving when properly applied to children with severe needs, but for the typical child, the cure can be worse than the disease. Bad Therapy is a must \\u2013 read for anyone questioning why our efforts to bolster America\\u2019s kids have backfired \\u2013 and what it will take for parents to lead a turnaround.

Abigail Shrier received the Barbara Olson Award for Excellence and Independence in Journalism in 2021. Her bestselling book, Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters (2020), was named a \\u201cBest Book\\u201d by the Economist and the Times. It has been translated into ten languages. Her new book is Bad Therapy: Why the Kids Aren\\u2019t Growing Up.

Shermer and Shrier discuss: Irreversible Damage redux: WPATH Files \\u2022 what view this book for or against \\u2022 what is the problem to be solved? \\u2022 theories: coddling, social media, screen time, generations/life history theory \\u2022 good and bad therapists and therapies \\u2022 anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation, autism \\u2022 ACE (Adverse Childhood Experience) \\u2022 trauma, stress, PTSD \\u2022 anti-fragility and resilience \\u2022 Goodwill Hunting view of therapy \\u2022 previous quack therapies and psychological pseudoscience that have plagued psychology and psychiatry.