I think we're getting better at identifying and diagnosing mental issues. 60 years ago a person was simply Insane, or Crazy. Today they're Paranoid-Schizophrenic and there are medications to help them counteract their mental issues and lead a relatively normal life. It's easier to apply labels, and today there are often benefits to being labeled.
I've always had an anxiety disorder that has caused no end of misery, but it was only officially diagnosed when I got depression on top of it. The anxiety had been survivable, but now I'm on medication that helps and I wish I would have sought help 20 years ago. I can't even imagine how much better my quality of life could have been. (That is, if the drugs had been around back then.)
That said, I think some of today's parents are beyond paranoid - hypochondriacs, I suppose - and some are way too eager to chalk up their misbehaving kids to mental issues rather than take responsibility for being a bad parent. They never managed to teach their kids to behave in public, but chalk the issue up to ADHD and put them on medication, which if the kid doesn't have ADHD, only makes them worse.
I also think they're right about the internet and broader scope of the world today having an effect. Kids aren't as sheltered as they were 30 years ago and definitely have new things to deal with than we did as kids.
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I've always had an anxiety disorder that has caused no end of misery, but it was only officially diagnosed when I got depression on top of it. The anxiety had been survivable, but now I'm on medication that helps and I wish I would have sought help 20 years ago. I can't even imagine how much better my quality of life could have been. (That is, if the drugs had been around back then.)
That said, I think some of today's parents are beyond paranoid - hypochondriacs, I suppose - and some are way too eager to chalk up their misbehaving kids to mental issues rather than take responsibility for being a bad parent. They never managed to teach their kids to behave in public, but chalk the issue up to ADHD and put them on medication, which if the kid doesn't have ADHD, only makes them worse.
I also think they're right about the internet and broader scope of the world today having an effect. Kids aren't as sheltered as they were 30 years ago and definitely have new things to deal with than we did as kids.