Overcoming Failure To Launch Anxiety

By Jerry Thompson


Ages 18 to 25 is the peak at which one will be experiencing a transition from being a teenager to being an adult. This stage is known as the young adult stage and it is where one will be trying to become independent and learn how to fend for him or herself. Unfortunately, it is also the time wherein one may have a high chance of getting a type of anxiety known as failure to launch anxiety.

Failure to launch syndrome, also known as FTL syndrome, is a common issue that many young adults have when they start transitioning into the stage wherein they have to be on their own and fend for themselves. Unfortunately, FTL syndrome is a possible product of parents not properly equipping their kids for the harshness of life. That is why most children of this generation end up entitled and dependent on their parents.

While this is the case, parents also cannot fully be blamed for this. After the recession, most baby boomers who have experienced the economy slowly going up did not want their children to experience the hardships that they had to go through. That is why they decided to spoil their children a bit and try to make things comfy for them, all with good intent.

However, this is something that eventually made the next generation grow a bit softer. They grew up with this craving of instant gratification which is further coupled with social media and the internet where you get everything instantly. So when the young adults go out into the world and discover that they need to work for things with utmost diligence and patience, they cannot take it.

Because their attitudes are geared toward instant gratification, they avoid problems if ever they cannot solve them easily. Of course, ignoring problems also has its own set of consequences.If one ignores his or her problems instead of facing them head on, then these problems may make him or her more anxious, that of which could lead to depression.

So if one would want to address the FTL syndrome issue, then the first thing to do is to know that it is an actual problem. It is not something that can go away after a few days or weeks. In fact, it is a problem that possibly needs the aid of an actual therapist or counselor.

While counselling can be helpful, parents and friends also play a really big role in helping one overcome this type of issue. Open dialogues should be encouraged between parent and child so that the child will not keep everything inside. And also, parents should learn to never put their kids down for failing. If anything, parents should encourage their kids to fail but learn from failure.

FTL syndrome is an actual syndrome that can really affect any young adult if not properly addressed. At the end of the day, the child has to grow up and turn into a young adult already. If he or she is not readily equipped with the right mindset, then he or she will definitely be at big risk of developing FTL syndrome.




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