There are many names given to failure to launch syndrome. You can call it Peter Pan syndrome, boomerang generation, or hikikomori, but it simply means young adults are not being able to make the transition to adulthood, and it is a growing phenomenon amongst them.
Seeking the explanations of the name that failure to launch syndrome is called now, in the US Peter Pan syndrome term came into existence after a young boy who never wanted to grow up. In Japan, hikikomori is a more extreme condition where young individuals are willing to live inside the four walls of their bedroom or go on an exile for years before they even hit their late twenties. There are many people in the society who would like to label these people as “loser,” “dropout,” or “man child,” but no matter what other people have to say to people going through failure to launch syndrome, it is more tangled than the simplistic labels might indicate.
The failure to launch syndrome cases are increasing at a breakneck pace, and according to a survey in the year 2014, many individuals aged between 25-54 were not interested in taking up a job, or they were neither working towards any goal and in the year 2015, the figure increased by 25%.
If you wonder what are the causes of understanding failure to launch syndrome in people. There are dozens of answers lingering around, including the lack of job availability, raising economy or education debt, but the defining feature of this particular syndrome states that it is simply delaying tasks, stalling, or flat-out refusal to run in the rat race of life. There are little to no intentions of earning a decent incoming or contributing financially to the family
What Are The Causes for Failure to Launch Syndrome
The desire to isolate oneself from the world and rely entirely on parents is the simple definition of Peter Pans, but there are many contributing factors for the individual situation, including family trauma, mental health or personal health issues, overparenting, and more. Let us at Forte Strong assess what are the flags that you can as a parent look out for in your child and know if they need help at the early stage.
Helicopter Parenting
A few parents like to hover around their children and provide them with everything that they require right at that point in time. Upon observation, we have noticed that helicopter parents constantly poke their nose in their child’s business and do things for them that their child has the capability to do. Everything parents do for their children is out of concern, but you should not forget that children are great observers. They notice everything. When you, as a parent, are providing them with everything that isn’t even crucial, they develop habits where they become irritable after not receiving what they seek from nature.
While many parents think that how can they be wronged for providing things to their children and making them happy? The point is that you need to understand what is essential for your child and what is not. Due to this reason, in general, many children are afraid to go on a venture alone and think that they can never be successful in life without their parents.
Substance Abuse
Many children are not lucky enough to have a positive family environment; hence, they cannot be blamed for their inability not to do things to lead a successful life. An unhealthy family system is one of the root causes of substance abuse and becoming a Peter Pan. When there is already a family member abusing drugs in the household, adults with failure to launch syndrome can become less noticeable, soaking them deeper into the condition.
As already mentioned, children are very observant, and it does not take time for them to adapt to habits that they regularly see. Young adults suffering from chemical addiction experience diminished cognitive ability and emotional stability. This provides them with a strong urge to stay at their parent’s place.
It is not only the failure of launch syndrome, but anyone suffering from addiction leads a very unmanageable life. There is increased anxiety with each passing day, including emotional turmoil.
Autism & Asperger’s
There is no doubt that even successful adults find the real-life juggling hard at times, but they still hustle their way out, but for many adults, the mere thought of struggling to make a livelihood is daunting. Young adults with autism spectrum, Asperger’s Syndrome (AS), or High Functioning Autism (HSA) often find it extremely hard to transition into hard-working adults.
Young adults on a spectrum are emotionally young according to their chronological age and have very little motivation to try new things in their life; hence they always want to switch back to things that make them comfortable. Apparently, it is behaving in a familiar situation to something, and it gives them power over choosing a frightening life transition.
Mental Illness
People suffering from mental health issues already find it extremely hard to adapt to new changes. Leaving their comfort zone is grippingly scary, even if they desire to lead an independent life. Young adults experiencing depression, anxiety, ADHD, or PTSD are likely to stick to their old schedule and may try to live a different life but show significantly less willingness.
It is hard to say the symptoms people exhibit when they are experiencing failure of launch syndrome because everyone displays a different set of behaviors. But upon observation, the above mentioned are a few of the frequently noticed reasons.
What Are The Common Symptoms of Failure To Launch Syndrome
Many people would like to tag individuals suffering from failure to launch syndrome as “lazy,” but in all honesty, they are struggling in their ways, more than you think they are. There are chances that young adults are able to explain the reason for their struggle, but their problems must be targeted as soon as possible to mitigate their symptoms right on time.
The symptoms can range in intensity and can include the following:
• No aim
• No direction of life
• Shallow motivation
• Narcissism
• Not able to take responsibility
• Having high expectations from people but not able to perform well on their expectations
• Not persistent
• Procrastination
• No stress management ability
How To Handle Failure to Launch Syndrome
A professional in mental health can assist people who are struggling to make the process of transitioning to adulthood and examine the root causes to create essential elements that help them in moving onto the next level. These elements consist of belief in oneself, self-confidence, determination, perseverance, goal setting, and balancing independently-based decision-making while drawing upon external resources.
Here are five forms of therapy to treat the syndrome of failure to launch syndrome:
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): Develops healthy thought patterns and addresses negative automatic thoughts about increasing responsibilities.
• Acceptance and commitment therapy, including mindfulness training: Can increase your capacity to be in the present moment vs. staying in the past or thinking in the future. It helps identify values and develop concrete steps to achieve the values you matter.
• Biofeedback and Neurofeedback: Helps you identify and alter your physical responses to stress and anxiety, positively impacting how you think and feel.
• Guidance for careers helps find and identify interests while increasing accountability and creating strategies to achieve your educational or work objectives.
• Therapy for families: Addresses the family as a whole and interactions patterns within the family, which will help strengthen relationships and lessen the degree of interdependence.
The primary element in the efficacy of therapy for individuals isn’t the kind of therapy. However, the connection between the counselor and the young adult looking for support. A good therapist listens, comprehends, and helps you become more aware of yourself and is there to assist you in overcoming obstacles and reaching your goals.
When to Seek Help for Failure to Launch
It is draining for the aging parents to take care of their child with failure to launch syndrome, and it puts the child under stress and their parents. Parents of young adults who are wondering about when is the right time to get help for their kids. There are various ways to help your child from failure to launch syndrome.
It is essential to remember that it’s not too late to get out of the rut regardless of how stuck you are. Getting to the root of your child’s problems with their clinical and breaking bad communication patterns and ensuring your child receives the proper treatment so that their brain can be regulated enough to be attentive and take action is how you can overcome the failure to launch syndrome. Forte Strong is a failure to launch syndrome expert, and with our 5 step approach, we aim to connect, discover, coach, challenge, and repeat so that the young adult can build confidence and adapt to new habits steadily.
We also offer opportunities to build self-esteem as well as form a bridge between the outside world and the inner world while building social opportunities to develop social skills and establish healthy relationships. Offering proper assistance in establishing time management and organizational routines to assist in the shift to living more autonomously, we help young adults manage the various aspects of life.