The expert explained the popularity of memes about harsh childhood

The popularity of memes about toxic parents and a difficult childhood among the generation of millennials born in 1985-1998 is explained by the work of the protective mechanisms of the psyche. Clinical psychologist Sergey Volkov told Izvestia about this, adding that humor acts as an aggressive defense against frightening memories.

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"How to get rid of the fear of someone? Make fun of him. But from a psychological point of view, the more a person jokes about his childhood, the more his trauma was. These are people who have been so strongly impressed by the events of the past that they cannot stand these memories. Childhood brings them pain in the truest sense of the word, and then the brain finds the only way out — to reduce their worries or even completely abandon them, replacing them with humor," explained the source.

At the same time, he said that blaming the parents for all the troubles is definitely not worth it, but there is no point in justifying it.

In the context of the popularity of such memes among millennials, the expert noted that this is their generational "trick."

"The childhood of millennials fell at a very difficult time. Now they have the opportunity to give children something better than glue on the heating line. And at the same time they are surprised to themselves that they survived then. This strong contrast is reflected in popular culture," the source concluded.

Read more in the Izvestia article:

Laughing through tears: Memes about harsh childhood protect millennials from pain