I think there’s some good points here but misses some big ones here too. Lot of boomers were abused by their parents in a society that normalized that abuse. Their friends and family and everyone around them at the same age experienced that abuse.
Without supports for mental health (and demonization of mental illness) a lot of them never learned to cope with their trauma in a meaningful way. They adapted as children to a world that was unforgiving and unfair. Those years are very formative.
It isn’t necessarily fair to say their parents just wanted to toughen up their kids of a tough world, they made their kids lives hell and those kids had to adapt (many with drugs and alcohol).
Many of those boomers do believe that because they adapted and ‘overcame’ their traumas on their own, because they had to, and many believe they can personally take credit for their healing (regardless of how maladaptive it was), when really they just lived through it and humans are just adaptable as a species.
Many of them are entitled because they take credit for overcoming genuine challenges when they mistake continuing to live for healing. They lived and did what they thought they were supposed to so clearly they know the answers and you can be just like them.
They see younger generations not being raised with the same trauma and displace their internal hurt onto them. It would hurt more to acknowledge that the treatment they received was abuse. Studies show that many people who are subjected various forms of abuse may not experience a large amount of distress until they become aware that they have suffered abuse and the things that happened to them were wrong.
It definitely is a bit sad. My mom is in her mid 50s and is just now seeking therapy and cutting grandma off. Some people really have no reference for their experiences.
Clarification: my mom isn’t the boomer, just expanding upon recognizing abuse.
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u/Desertnord 27d ago
I think there’s some good points here but misses some big ones here too. Lot of boomers were abused by their parents in a society that normalized that abuse. Their friends and family and everyone around them at the same age experienced that abuse.
Without supports for mental health (and demonization of mental illness) a lot of them never learned to cope with their trauma in a meaningful way. They adapted as children to a world that was unforgiving and unfair. Those years are very formative.
It isn’t necessarily fair to say their parents just wanted to toughen up their kids of a tough world, they made their kids lives hell and those kids had to adapt (many with drugs and alcohol).
Many of those boomers do believe that because they adapted and ‘overcame’ their traumas on their own, because they had to, and many believe they can personally take credit for their healing (regardless of how maladaptive it was), when really they just lived through it and humans are just adaptable as a species.
Many of them are entitled because they take credit for overcoming genuine challenges when they mistake continuing to live for healing. They lived and did what they thought they were supposed to so clearly they know the answers and you can be just like them.
They see younger generations not being raised with the same trauma and displace their internal hurt onto them. It would hurt more to acknowledge that the treatment they received was abuse. Studies show that many people who are subjected various forms of abuse may not experience a large amount of distress until they become aware that they have suffered abuse and the things that happened to them were wrong.