美国成年子女与父母的疏离关系正在增加，明尼苏达大学家庭社会科学名誉教授、治疗师威廉·多赫蒂在接受《华尔街日报》伊丽莎白·伯恩斯坦采访时表示，这正成为“文化转折点”。读者们就这种社会转变的原因展开了讨论——究竟是社交媒体或治疗师本身加剧了这一问题。以下是经过删减以节省篇幅并提高清晰度的部分读者评论。
Estrangements between adult children and their parents are on the rise in the U.S., creating “a cultural tipping point,” according to William Doherty, a therapist and professor emeritus of family social science at the University of Minnesota, who spoke to WSJ’s Elizabeth Bernstein about it. Readers debated the reasons for the social shift—and whether it’s a problem exacerbated by social media or therapists themselves. Here, edited for space and clarity, are a selection of those comments.
我是一名来自小城镇的70岁精神科医生。我见过许多在童年时期遭受虐待或忽视的患者，他们有理由与父母断绝关系。我只见过少数在童年时期得到情感滋养却仍与父母断绝关系的患者。我看到的成年人中，有远更多的人在童年时期遭受严重虐待，却由于“创伤纽带”而继续依附于过去或当下的施虐者。我认为，无根据地拒绝父母的比例以及有根据地拒绝父母的比例，因地区和社会经济阶层的不同而存在显著差异。
I am a small town 70-year-old psychiatrist. I have seen many hundreds of patients horribly abused or neglected as children who rightfully abandoned their parents. I have only seen a couple of patients emotionally nourished as children who abandoned their parents. I see far more cases of adults horribly abused as children who cling to their former or active abusers due to a “trauma bond.”I suspect the rate of unfounded rejection as well as the rate of founded rejection of parents varies dramatically by location and socioeconomic class.
无根据地拒绝父母很可能是特权的结果（常常是出于好意的治疗师所鼓励），而有根据地拒绝父母则在那些没有特权的人群中更为常见。当然也有例外。
Unfounded rejection of parents is likely the result of privilege (often encouraged by well-meaning therapists) while founded rejection of parents is much more common among those without privilege. Of course there are exceptions.