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Social media seems to be filled with videos from millennials comparing their parenting approach to their boomer parents. There's no doubting that this generation is distinct from their parents and one woman has perfectly summed up another topic that boomers and millennials can't agree on.
Kristen Knutson has recently made a light-hearted skit about mental health, which she refers to as "the forbidden topic" in the caption. The footage shows Knutson wearing glasses at the end of her nose whilst relaying a conversation that presumably happened between her and her mom.
So far, the comical yet perfectly accurate video has amassed two million views on Instagram. Using the handle @callmekristenmarie, the on-screen text says: "Your boomer mom with anxiety thinks that anxiety is a myth."
According to a 2023 YouGov study, baby boomers reported a much higher rate of mental health than younger generations—while 17 percent of adults who were born after 2000 have an anxiety diagnosis. This is almost twice as many baby boomers as have received a comparable diagnosis. The highest percentage of any generation, nearly one in five millennials (19 percent), have received a diagnosis of depression at some point in their lives.
In the video, Knutson plays out a scenario in which a boomer refuses to acknowledge that they are having mental health issues. This illustrates how boomers disregard mental health.
She can be heard saying: "Anxiety? No sweetheart. That is just what we call motherhood." Followed by symptoms, she says: "Oh your heart just kind of races nonstop and you just have intrusive thoughts on a loop? Yeah, that's called having kids.
"I've been experiencing that for about 37 years. It's not clinical. It's just being a mom."
Knutson ends the video with the following statements: "It's all perfectly normal, you don't need therapy. It's just the human experience.
"We all get in you know our heads sometimes, you work through it."
All of the expressions of views couldn't be more true and the video has even been backed by a study conducted by OnePoll on behalf of MegaFood. The results found that just 8 percent of boomers would be willing to see a therapist while 45 percent of millennials are most likely to talk to a therapist to care for their mental health.

At the time of writing, the clip has racked up over 35,000 likes and plenty of comments, many of which are from other
"Depression is also a myth, and of course, talking about either is an assault on her parenting," said one comment.
"Yes! Their generation is so defensive and shameful about people doing therapy. It's like, it's okay, we know better now. It's okay to do therapy. You're clearly anxious or depressed and it's not just being a parent," said another.
A third commenter said: "As a therapist and also the child of a mom like this, this is so accurate it hurts! My mom's quote is that 'I'm always three crises ahead of everyone else' Like no mom, that's called catastrophizing."
Newsweek reached out to @callmekristenmarie for comment via email. We could not verify the details of the case.
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About the writer
Lucy Notarantonio is Newsweek's Senior Lifestyle and Trends Reporter, based in Birmingham, UK. Her focus is trending stories and human ... Read more