Perfectionism in teenagers is often mistaken for a positive trait.What often goes unseen is the amount of distress underneath that performance. Many perfectionistic teens appear successful while quietly feeling anxious, ashamed, and chronically inadequate.

Most teenagers aren’t sitting down to deliberately consume upsetting content. It just kind of happens. They pick up their phone to check something small, and forty-five minutes later, they’re deep in a feed full of climate disaster coverage, school shooting statistics, or a comment section that’s turned into a war zone. This is doomscrolling, and it’s become one of the more quietly damaging habits in adolescent life right now.

You've been waiting for these years to come. Your friends and family members warned you about this. You knew how you raised your kids, and you thought that they'd be different.