Older Generations Already Understood Mental Health. Nobody Really Gave Them Credit.
Older Southern and country generations may not have said "his nervous system is experiencing chronic hyperarousal due to unresolved trauma." No sir. They said "Boy ain't sat still since Reagan was in office." And somehow everybody knew exactly what they meant. That is the thing modern folks sometimes miss when they look backward at older rural generations. They assume that because people did not use clinical language, they must not have understood emotional struggle. Oh, they understood people just fine, partner. They simply looked through a different lens. They described people through weather patterns, fence posts, worn-out boots, fishing trips, church casseroles, long silences on porches, and whichever family member was currently acting catawampus at the reunion. They did not say he struggles with anxiety. They said that boy's wound up tighter than a tree knot. They did not say she suppresses her emotions. They said that woman swallows feelings like ...