'I need a grippy sock vacation': Breaking down the Gen-Z slang term for a trip to an inpatient psychiatric facility
American adolescents, as has been widely reported, are not OK. In fact, they're facing such intense mental health issues — spurred on by the pandemic but also predating it — that the U.S. surgeon general has warned of a "devastating" situation. Many hospitals and caregivers have declared a national emergency, and a new national poll has found that many parents and educators believe the problem is growing, and that schools are not equipped to offer the help that’s needed.
Add to all that the fact that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people ages 15 to 24, and it’s clear that Gen Z is facing a major crisis.
But the generation, also known for its particular brand of sarcasm, appears to be coping through the use of some clever, if jarring, humor — namely, with its very own mental health slang term about where people feel tempted to go to get a break from life: on a “grippy sock vacation.”
In other words, to an inpatient psychiatric care facility.
Use of phrases like, "I need a grippy sock vacation" and "I'm one breakdown away from a grippy sock vacation" — inspired by the high-traction socks that are doled out in hospitals of all kinds to prevent slips and falls, but have been a hallmark of psych wards — is rising. And while some find the term too glib, young mental health advocates say the phrase is pitch-perfect.
“I think from the perspective of Gen Z, which has been collectively knee-capped by society, it makes so much sense,” says Amanda Southworth, 21, a mental health peer advocate, referring to the stew of crises — climate change, mass shootings, anti-LGBTQ laws and rhetoric, racism and economic downturns — that are bearing down on young people. Use of the phrase, she says, is a way to normalize the necessary conversation around mental health with a dash of humor.
Southworth, who founded her mental health support app company Astra Labs in 2016, has made past suicide attempts and spent time a psychiatric hospital at the age of 18. She tells Yahoo Life, "The world is kind of losing its s***, and we're looking at that and saying, ‘What's the point?’ We have a lot of mental health problems in this generation and we’ve inherited a world that’s really scary and we kind of felt like adults could fix it, but now we’ve realized the adults have caused it."
Further, she explains, “Our societal safety nets have been removed to the point where ... the mental health hospital has kind of become this symbol of being one of the only places where you can be tended to, and formally say ‘I’m not dealing with life well’ ... and to surrender from the world. So ‘grippy socks vacation’ is partially a joke ... but it’s also a way for the generation to say: ‘I cannot do this anymore. I need a break. Don't f***ing test me.’”
She also points out that it’s far from a panacea, as the mental health system itself needs serious fixing — between stigmatizing policies such as the controversial new plan to involuntarily commit New Yorkers who exhibit signs of untreated mental illness as well as the dire shortages of therapists, student on-campus mental health support and psychiatric hospital beds across the nation. That shortage of inpatient beds has left many young people — upwards of at least 1,000, according to one doctor’s estimation — spending days waiting for care in the nation’s emergency rooms.
Fellow youth advocate Gabby Frost, 25, who founded the suicide prevention organization Buddy Project in 2013, agrees with Southworth that the phrase makes sense. “I feel like with mental health and other taboo subjects, you kind of have to be funny to start de-stigmatizing it,” she tells Yahoo Life. “A lot of people with mental health issues use humor to cope. It makes it less of a shock to people.”
She also urges those who may not understand it to not be thrown by the word “vacation.”
“Society understands a vacation as something you enjoy,” she says. But sometimes “you need mental health vacation ... and no one wants to do that — ‘Ooh, I’m gonna go on a grippy socks vacation!’ — but saying it when they’re at their breaking point, or referring to their past [hospitalization] is, if anything, helping to normalize the idea of taking breaks for mental health when you need it."
But if you hear someone express that they need a grippy socks vacation, Frost says, “I feel like that’s almost a call for help — because it’s easier to say that than ‘I need help.’”
Why some find it troubling
Use of the phrase has been alarming to some fellow Gen Z-ers, who say that it’s glamorizing, or at least diminishing the seriousness of, psychiatric hospital stays, which are meant for those who pose serious harm to themselves or others.
"If I see one more post about grippy sock vacations, I will scream, because that is not a realistic illustration," notes one young woman on TikTok, where the hashtag “grippysockvacation” has over 72 million views and “grippysocksvacation” has 16.8 million, and where many of the videos are set to the instrumental track “Grippy Sock Vacation” by Gabe Smith (who could not be tracked down by Yahoo Life). Another TikToker, meanwhile, says, “Please stop calling it a grippy sock vacation it’s not clever and it’s not funny.”
Many others, aiming to show the truth of how they see psychiatric hospitals, have shared details on TikTok: “the most depressing place on earth,” “pure hell,” “trauma of compulsory detainment,” “they drugged me up so bad to the point where I had no thoughts,” “the ward environment is hostile,” “the nurses were so mean,” “I call it grippy sock jail.”
Some professionals also are concerned about the cheekiness of the phrase.
Pamela Rutledge, media psychologist and director of the Media Psychology Research Center, tells Yahoo Life, “It's really, to me, problematic when something like ‘grippy socks vacation” trivializes not just the experience of mental illness, but its treatment.”
Don Grant, media psychologist and the national director of healthy device management for Newport Healthcare, an adolescent mental health treatment program with inpatient facilities around the country, says his reaction to the phrase, which he’s heard often from both patients and on TikTok, is mixed.
“On the one hand, I feel saddened and disturbed by the potential diminishing of how serious a mental health situation would be to either endorse or support a ‘grippy socks’ program admission,” Grant tells Yahoo Life, adding that he’s heard various other slang terms for inpatient breaks, including “menty-b” and “Motel California,” as well as “yoyo inspector” for a therapist.
“But on the other,” he continues, “I believe that any conduit to openly discussing mental health, helping to de-stigmatize it and thus create positive, safe and authentic dialogue around it is a wonderful thing, even if it means utilizing social media and slang terms to get people — especially adolescents, teens and young adults — talking about it in a meaningful manner.”
Grant believes that many of the young people who use the term (or buy it on stickers or even consider it as a tattoo), may not truly understand the severity of these facilities, and are instead imagining more “posh mental health treatment or rehab programs,” such as where celebrities go.
“That any young person would really believe an inpatient stay in an acute treatment center would be a coveted antidote to their current daily living experience is something I think we all need to consider very seriously and also address," he says, stressing that when it comes to admitting someone for inpatient treatment — at least at Newport — there must be "extremely comprehensive and multi-level assessments."
He adds, "The idea of a mental health facility being viewed as an escape is worrisome to me,” and is scrutinized during client intakes.
Lindsay Fleming, a therapist for children, teens and young adults with over 520,000 TikTok followers, is also torn about the “grippy socks” phrase.
“One thing that can be harmful about these jokes is that it can be triggering to people who have stayed in psychiatric units,” Fleming tells Yahoo Life regarding vulnerable teens who scroll TikTok. “Also, it can cause a barrier in [outpatient therapy] treatment,” she adds, prompting fears among kids that their therapist may admit them to a psychiatric unit if they disclose too much, which could “cause the client to withhold information from the therapist.”
She does understand, though, how the phrase fits in with how Gen Z-ers tend to expresses themselves around difficult topics, and that it’s just “another way teens may be using humor to talk about hard things.”
How parents can respond
Rutledge believes that young people could be viewing the psychiatric hospital as “a place where you could go by yourself,” and “where it makes sense to be stepping away” from the world. But while parents should never dismiss “the emotional angsting of kids,” she also stresses the importance of helping them develop coping skills, noting that, in the absence of a serious diagnosis, it’s important to stress that “checking out, rather than learning to cope, is not a good solution.”
Grant suggests having honest conversations with your child, and really hearing them when they share about their struggles, mental health or otherwise, “no matter how innocuous or ephemeral they might seem,” he says. “Two of the most common complaints I hear from adolescents and teens is that ‘They just don’t understand’ and ‘They never listen to me. What do I have to do to get them to hear me?’”
To that end, he says, “I strongly encourage parents to not dismiss, ignore, shame, contradict, avoid or be in denial if their child is willing to talk with them about their struggles. The consequences could be serious. Ask them, without any judgment, what they think they need and why. If they bring up the ‘grippy sock vacation,’ ask what they believe inpatient treatment entails exactly. Respect their words and feelings, affirm their courage in sharing them with you, and assure them you are there to love and support them no matter what.”
Grant urges parents to “remain calm, take your time and don’t rush this process, even if it takes more than one conversation.”
Southworth, on that note, makes a plea for understanding. “Even people without mental illnesses,” she says, “are at the point where grippy socks vacations [can] feel like the closest things we have from getting respite from the world.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing suicidal thoughts, call 911, or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.
The Trevor Project offers a 24/7 suicide prevention and crisis intervention hotline for LGBTQ youth and their loved ones. Call 1-866-488-7386, text START to 678-678 or send a confidential instant message to a counselor through TrevorChat. More resources are available at thetrevorproject.org.
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