I think there's also a dimension that previous generations tended to hide their mental health issues and not be honest about them, and that's still the case today, whereas GenZ and Gen Alpha have been actively encouraged to share and speak about them. However, my concern that there has been some over correction (just as there has been on myriad issues, from equality between men and women, girls educational attainment and opportunities and various other aspects of DEI) and we are now seeing significant numbers of young people almost taught or told they're victims and wearing labels as badges. There needs to be balance struck between hiding and not over sharing and over emphasising.
It's not uncommon now to be listing mental health in bios as if it's a achievement along side education and professional qualifications or interests, which I find truly bizzare. And, of course, there's also the impact of growing up with social media and the Internet, which can have a significantly detrimental impact on young folk, something which me as GenX, didn't have to grapple with. It's a toxic mess and definitely one that's storing up problems, and I do indeed wonder if the inability to get SGC or FAC due to mental health issues could have a significant and detrimental impact on shooting sports long term, quite apart for young people being less interested in them anyway, not helped by them still being seen as sports for tweeded toffs or old men (and far too many clubs refuse to embrace modern technology, like decent websites or face book pages, or few to no open days, making it extremely hard for younger folk to engage.
And what future do shooting sports have if it's all old men or rich people?
