The Twentysomething Treatment

In Skills Over Pills, clinical psychology Dr Meg Jay sounds the alarm about a problem which has reached epidemic proportions: the over-prescription of antidepressants and anti-anxiety drugs to young people who are in many cases going through normal developmental challenges.

Psychologist, Dr Meg Jay makes the point that our twenties are the most challenging time of life and why over-medicating isn’t the answer to the mental health problems facing young people.

She goes onto advise how young people can develop the skills needed to navigate work, love, friendship, mental health, and more during that decade and beyond.

Jay is not opposed to the use of drugs, when necessary, nor is she minimising the mental health crisis that many people are experiencing today. Instead, Jay wants to build a program of compassionate skill-building in which accessible insights and techniques are developed to reduce anxiety and manage the challenges that life throws our way.

In Skills Over Pills, Jay teaches readers how to acquire essential skills such as:

- How to be social when social media functions as an evolutionary trap.
- How to befriend someone and why this is more crucial for survival than ever.
- How to love someone even though they may break your heart.
- How to make sex more fulfilling than you thought was possible.
- How to move, literally, toward happiness and health.
- How to face, rather than avoid, bad feelings so they won’t haunt you.
- How to cook your way into confidence and connection.
- How to change a bad habit.
- How to decide when so much is undecided.
- And how to find purpose at work and in love.

Throughout the book Jay offers relatable case studies and conversations she’s had with her students and clients who are learning to embrace uncertainty and live full lives.

Skills Over Pills is a practical, hopeful message, which presents a far more promising future for our young people than a life on medication.