In recent years, there have been alarming reports of increased anxiety among young people. Trends like the growing influence of social media, increased competition to get into college, and changing sexual norms put tremendous pressures on our kids.
But many of these pressures are exacerbated for girls—especially girls of color, argues psychologist Lisa Damour, author of the new book Under Pressure. Girls face headwinds that boys don’t, including a narrow standard of beauty, prejudice around their abilities, and pressures to be sexual before they are ready. Her book is a call to parents and mentors to both understand these forces and help equip girls to handle them, for the sake of their mental health.
Damour’s book is full of case studies that help illuminate the problems. For example, in one chapter she tells the story of Nicki, a ninth-grade girl suffering from extreme anxiety and sleeplessness. When Damour asks Nicki why she can’t sleep, she learns that Nicki stays up late worrying about everything—unfinished homework, “stupid posts” she’s written on social media, strained relationships with friends, a gymnastics team she doesn’t enjoy. But one day Nicki shows up in Damour’s office happy to have a broken foot: It gives Nicki a “real” excuse to quit the gymnastics team without letting anyone down, as if her deteriorating mental health weren’t reason enough.
[For more on this story by JILL SUTTIE, go to https://greatergood.berkeley.e...en_in_a_sexist_world]
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