Girls’ Generation Sooyoung’s Honest Thoughts About How Debuting As A Teenager Affected Her Mental Health
As part of the promotions for their 15 year anniversary comeback, Girls’ Generation spent time together on Soshi TamTam, a reality program meant to prepare the group for their comeback!
In one episode, Sooyoung and Yoona spend a day relaxing and head to a plant shop to garden and create their own mini garden. Despite a small moment of sadness when Sooyoung realized she couldn’t smell the flowers after having COVID-19, the rest of their time is spent preparing their garden.
Sooyoung got covid before and she can’t smell the lavender that came from flowers 🥹 she was really upset and members were worried but said her sense of smell will come back eventually 😭pic.twitter.com/ZBIF3Z6nCV
— UNSTOPPABLE ON 30/10! 🔥 (@sooyoungnews) August 16, 2022
While planting flowers, Sooyoung made the comment that their CEO told her to find a hobby completely unrelated to her job or work. The two discussed bread making and other hobbies before Yoona mentions that she started going on trips. She says that while she was booking her hotel and flight she was really shocked because of the price. She also said that it was the first time she had made a solo trip.
Yoona: I think we all experienced that (solo trips) very late in life.
Sooyoung: Yeah, around 27, 28?
Yoona: I was 29.
After discussing this, Sooyoung said that her therapist previously told her “it’s as if you’re stuck in time and you’re still a high schooler.” Yoona wholeheartedly agreed with the statement, reiterating that they “are stuck in time.”
Both Yoona and Sooyoung debuted at young ages and missed out on experiencing many huge milestones throughout their late teens and early twenties. Prior to debuting with Girls’ Generation, Sooyoung was a member of a singing duo called Route 0 in 2002 in Japan at age 12. This group disbanded in 2003 and Sooyoung went back to SM Entertainment to debut in 2007 with Girls’ Generation.
The negative effects of debuting at an early age have also been discussed with the debut of several young idols including ENHYPEN‘s Ni-Ki, IVE‘s Leeseo, and NewJeans‘s Hyein over the last few years.
According to many experts, idols that debut in the entertainment industry early on have a higher risk of being deprived of psychological growth and maturity. This would include missing out on experiences like booking a trip on your own, something many people experience in their early 20s.
Debuting at such a young age usually means they miss out on such experiences. In the worst case, if they fail to succeed as celebrities, they are left with limited career options since they’ve most likely missed a significant portion of their education due to idol activities.
— Pop culture critic Ha Jae Kun
Luckily, Sooyoung and the other members of Girls’ Generation are able to experience these types of things now and have the support of therapists for their mental health and dealing with fame. Many fans praised Sooyoung for her casual discussion of visiting a therapist as well.
Proud of sooyoung openly talking about seeing a therapist and snsd on casual discussions of mental health in general. Normalize this please 💗 https://t.co/6D3M6YfLHd
— Fangirl Sy (@sy_fangirl) August 16, 2022
can i just say how brave it is for sooyoung to mention she's seeing a therapist? also look at how the long term effect of idol life is for these girls— these are 30+ yr old women now… and kpop stan twt still don't see the problem of debuting young girls 😵💫 https://t.co/0cKmcQuCgf
— issa⁷ • 🇵🇭 🇵🇸 (@herepiphany_) August 18, 2022
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