I wrote this little rant on Personality Cafe but I'm going to post it here too. You can substitute 'therapy' below for 'antidepressants' it'll read the same I expect. (the INTJ reference was to the OP there)
What I notice is that there is a huge increase in teens feeling really unhappy with themselves and feeling angry, confused, lonely, etc. I think it's a social problem more than anything.
The ideas of what a human is and in particular our inner world might be are not fixed. Humans are subject to whatever social, historical and cultural ideas they are growing up into. That means that at a really profound level we are not quite as separate/individual/boundaried as we think. We have absorbed the definitions which we are presented with every day and we think they are real.
Currently in the UK and I suspect most of the Western world, humans are being defined by two really powerful forces - psychology and consumerism.
Psychology is invested in making you believe that your problems are to do with your 'damaged' or 'distorted' or 'unhealthy' or 'dangerous' emotions, thoughts, impulses, feelings etc. So these phenomena have to be defined as an 'object' so they can be made a problem to be solved. This means that you begin to relate to these phenomena as 'my' feelings 'my' emotions. Great if they're pleasant, but what happens when they're horrible? This individualised view of the human condemns you to being trapped inside yourself, always having to deal with, tame and control your inner world. Guess what? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE!!!! So you're given the message that you have to engage in 'self-policing' so when you can't do that you blame and punish yourself. See through the lie.
So what to do instead? If you are an INTJ really then you should be able to do this exercise. For one month what you need to do is an experiment. Instead of identifying with your feelings and thoughts (especially those scary images) and thinking they are 'you', step back and simply notice them as phenomena which come into your consciousness. The only thing that can be regarded as 'you' is your awareness - that is within your control. Where you place your attention. So when thoughts and emotions arise, just notice them - sometimes labelling them can help, e.g. 'scary image', 'self-loathing thought', and then the really powerful bit, just let them go. Treat them like you would any other passing phenomena and you will see through them - they are just weird things that your brain produces! I can't stress this enough - commit to doing this for a month and really have a go.
The second tyrant which is tormenting teens is consumerism - you are being brainwashed all the time into keeping capitalism going. Now I'm not saying this from some political ideological position - I like being able to buy things just as much as anyone else, but you need to be aware of just how saturated your world is with messages from the media about what you should buy and you have never lived in the world without these forces - think about it - when I was at primary school TV was first available and only a few homes had one!!! You need to wake up to this because the way the media gets you to buy things is by shaping your idea of who you are and who you should be. And this is also about having to be a totally unique and special individual. Just watch MTV and similar programmes - Miami Ink etc. see through the format - it's all designed to make you feel that you are not quite good enough unless you have x.y.z. or unless you think like a.b.c. etc. and all bases are covered - the girly girls, the sexy girls, the boho girls, the cool hippy chick - whatever. Unless you can show you are special you are nothing. What a horrible thing to do to our children - turning them into pawns for the economy.
And finally the greatest tool in keeping our youth brainwashed - therapy. That's the answer to everything now. So - you are brainwashed into thinking your emotions and thoughts are things you can and have to control - so when you can't you need an expert to help you. Nice little earner as they say. Not to say that therapy doesn't work or that it doesn't have a place but it is being used by society to control people nowadays - every normal experience is pathologised! Grief at breaking up with a boyfriend, confusion about identity (totally normal for teens), upset over friendship difficulties, difficulty with concentrating on schoolwork (why do you need to learn quadratic equations ffs) etc etc Anger ( you have every right to be angry - the adults have messed up the economy, the environment, your future) This is no better than communist Russia sending dissidents into mental hospitals.
I suggest every teen on this board who sympathises with the OP get down to the library and read Brave New World. You are the barbarians - you are the sane ones. This is YOUR world just as much as the adults - decide the kind of adults you want to be, get better role models than the sub-pornographic females and self-absorbed males presented to you through the TV. Listen to Patti Smith! The Clash!
