Depression in teenage girls on the rise

[RedToothBrush]

amp.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/18/poorest-brightest-girls-uk-depressed-study-teenagers-mental-health?__twitter_impression=true
Poorest and brightest girls more likely to be depressed – UK study
Research into 14-year-olds renews concern over rising rates of teenage mental illness

They add to growing evidence that teenage girls are particularly vulnerable to mental health difficulties. NHS figures show there were sharp increases between 2005/06 and 2015/16 in the number of girls under 18 admitted to hospital in England because they had self-harmed by cutting (up 285%), poisoning (42%) or hanging themselves (331%).

The Samaritans made an observation in this year's suicide report that there were signs that suicide in young women could be on the rise but it was too early to state it was a definite trend.

Cleverer girls also had a significantly higher risk of having high depressive symptoms at 14, she said, and she was doing further research to calculate that risk more precisely among those with “higher childhood cognitive scores”.

Krause said: “Part of it could be that [brighter girls] have a ‘hyper brain’, a more active brain, which often means they have a much higher emotional reaction to things and they are constantly overthinking things

'Pink brains' Teenage girls brains are more hysterical hyperactive? Or something else the researchers don't think of?

We certainly need to be looking at how the use of social media and cyberbullying may affect girls and boys differently.”

Yes. And why would that be?

Dr Nick Waggett, chief executive of the Association of Child Psychotherapists, said it was unhelpful to highlight bright or poor girls as being at particular risk “when we already now there is a significant burden of mental illness in children and young people, including adolescent girls, and that there is a substantial shortfall in specialist services for them.”

Hmmm.

Depressing read.

The researchers also found that overweight boys and girls were 5% more likely to be depressed. This has prompted speculation as to whether the huge recent increase in childhood obesity is helping to drive what experts say is a growing mental health crisis in young people.

And of course there's the huge recent increase in people who think they can freely express contempt for people who are overweight (particularly dressed up as 'concern') without fear of censure or any conscience - you only have to be on MN to see that.

For me in my teens depression was caused by the amount of sexist shit and harassment I got regularly, and the risk I ran daily of worse... and the fact that it was considered legitimate, and I was thought of as the one with the problem for not accepting my status as fair prey unless under clear male ownership.

Has that improved for current teens? In some ways - official culture - yes, in other ways - cyber bullying - it's worse, in other ways no change - general male practice.

I think 'general male practice' has vastly improved although I'm likely to be in the minority on here. I don't imagine you'd find many male feminists back in the 70s for instance - although things could still be much better. I think the internet just gives us access to view the worst aspects like MRAs and other fringe groups which previously would have festered away out of site of the public eye and had less means to collaborate and share info amongst themselves.

I think we also underestimate the similar pressure on men to look good. Women are expected to be slim, but men are expected to be slim and have muscles. Building significant amounts of muscle takes years not months and is why so many male celebrities take steroids. Steroid use is on the rise amongst young men and can have catastrophic effects in later life when their endocrine systems have been disrupted at such an early stage - erectile dysfunction, gynomastia, depression, etc. Not derailing, just giving a balanced consideration to it. Boys having more outlets in sport doesn't stop a much higher percentage killing themselves and I'd be equally worried for my future son as a future daughter.

The pressures are different and the outcomes are different.

It is worth considering the particular pressures and outcomes for girls in our society.

Its the double whammy of perfectionism which is encouraged by our testing and image culture and social anxiety because everyone feels like they are only a step away from becoming a viral meme and being a pariah. Wish we could learn that we are here to experience the world, not win at it or ornament it.

moody the pressure on boys to look good is not the same as it is on girls.

Have a look at this
victimfocus.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/comparing-men-women-who-gets-photoshopped-the-most/

3rd rule of misogyny: Women speaking for themselves are exclusionary and selfish.

Thanks, MoodyDench, for getting the WATM out of the way on the second page.

I do worry about my boy... worried that he will be sucked into this toxic male culture and become one of them. It's true that male stereotypes are harder to evade than it is for women I think, they don't have the same flexibility. Bloody trans people could actually bloody help there .

The pressures on men to look certain ways are getting worse it seems but then all the more reason to address it across the board, as the "standards" for girls are ever more extreme, and while for boys looks are one aspect, and other aspects are important (see most media for representations of all sorts of men having adventures and getting the girl), for girls the message is strong that the most important thing by far, possibly to the exlcusion of all else, is their looks.

Even when women are doing amazing things in sports, or getting on in politics, the press and society still focus strongly on what they look like. With men, what they do is most important. Our children ingest these messages, they are everywhere.

In some ways things are better and in some worse I would say since the 80s when I grew up. Net result is probably similar?

The overthink comment was fucking insulting. They aren't overthinking they are just noticing the double standards and feeling the pain.

It does very much turn it back onto the girls, that there is something wrong with their heads. Clever girls have always been deemed a bit problematic, haven't they. Getting ideas above their station, not toeing the line. I think these simmer under in society and then pop out, like in this case. Anyway, it puts it on them, when from my perspective, it's really fucking obvious that there are loads of external things at work that bear examination.

What about this hormonal contraception thing? The results were shocking. Will link in a sec in case anyone missed it. Girls are now being given these long acting ones, so they can't even stop if it fucks them up, it's implanted.

"You think too much" and "too smart for your own good" is old style misogyny so I guess this model of the modern male misogynist thinks that “Part of it could be that [brighter girls] have a ‘hyper brain’, a more active brain, which often means they have a much higher emotional reaction to things and they are constantly overthinking things" will provide plausible deniability.

bbc pill depression

and googling threw up this which I had missed - saying it causes structual changes in the brain holy fuck here

The contraception thing is a biggy as many girls go on it when young - at least they did in my day - and when they're stilll growing / teenagey / etc. So when they get depressed / mood swings etc it gets put down to "normal" teenager stuff, and of course girls are "emotional" anyway so really a load of preventable issues are being overlooked because it's teenage girls who are having them.

Further evidence that disrupting the hormones of children and young people may not be a great idea with respect to brain development.

This has prompted speculation as to whether the huge recent increase in childhood obesity ...

There hasn’t been a recent increase. Childhood obesity rates have stabilised since 2004.

I agree entirely on the hormone point. We Mumsnetters are (mostly) opposed to giving sex-changing hormones to teenagers. We should be just as sceptical of the fertility-changing hormones that GPs hand out to our children.

That's a very interesting article, Quentin, but it does somewhat affirm my point. I'd have said we're probably more influenced by Western ideals than those of say Indonesia or Bangladesh, and the 'ideal' American figure in that article is a guy with a rippling six pack - hard to achieve with just diet and no weighted crunches etc. And if we look at guys like Chris Hemsworth, Channing Tatum, the Diet Coke guy....these guys are on another level entirely.

Not being truculent, but I've watched my partner do from slightly chubby to fairly muscular (albeit not quite with a rippling six pack) and it had taken him several years. The issue is that you can't add significant muscle whilst losing fat ad.one requires a calorie deficit and one a surplus, so it usually requires several six month cycles of alternating between cutting and bulking.

Anyway, apologies if I've derailed a bit. I just appreciate the difficulty for both sexes. I was able to lose several stone over six months and looked fairly decent, but my partner was very self conscious about looking 'weedy' and it took him another year of lifting 4x a week to build some muscle onto his new skinny frame (and then a further six months to trim off the slight belly he'd put on whilst bulking up).

Parents often aspire for their children to be high-achievers, to be conscientious and aware of the world around them. But in the current climate, it’s all too easy for young girls to feel all the pressure in the world. Not only in an academic sense, but in social settings/body image and fashion/family life/hobbies. We’re always told to do more and to do better. Whilst we’ve come a million miles in the past century, girls are not allowed to just be pretty or just be intelligent. You have to be both, and you have to be the best. Combine this with the knowledge that you’re unlikely to get the job you dream of, you probably won’t be able to afford to buy a house, you won’t be able to juggle a mortgage/job with the cost of childcare. These were the sort of things going on in my head at 16. Plus the fact that most boys didn’t seem to be on the same page as me. Plus the fact that daily acts of terror are committed around the globe and streamed directly into your bedroom/classroom via your phone. Plus the fact that you feel fat and hormonal. Plus the fact that you feel like your parents just don’t understand. Plus the fact that your school doesn’t seem to care about anything but grades. Plus the fact that when you talked to the doctor, they brushed you off with a prescription with a list of side effects longer than the claimed benefits and a leaflet on mindfulness. It’s no wonder that teenage girls are depressed. It’s what we can do about it that really matters now.

Parents evening in year 2 DD was ahead and doing well, but yet her teacher sat there and told us all the things she should be doing - next steps.

I asked why can't we just stop and celerbrate a good year? The answer was that learning never stops they can always do better.

Now 15 DDs friend was disappointed to 'Only get an A - when she received a B, friend said 'Well your parents have lower expectations than mine'

This pressure is constant - clothes hair boys drink drugs grades phones experiences - all piling up one after the other - lets give our girls a break and let them enjoy being teens.

30 years ago my life was made a misery at school because i wasnt allowed to shave my legs. It was constant harassment and bullying from the girls and the boys. It was hell and teachers did fuck all.

"And of course there's the huge recent increase in people who think they can freely express contempt for people who are overweight (particularly dressed up as 'concern') without fear of censure or any conscience - you only have to be on MN to see that"

THIS! YY Staples.

The huge recent increase in obesity seems to be media canon now as it is included in every article despite it not being true for years.

Hulah you are very insightful - that's almost exactly all the things my DD14 said to the psychologist when she explained why she felt so bad; particularly about her future and the future of society/the world. Only difference is she didn't get offered any medication, rather everything was minimised and brushed over. Pretty much like every doctors visit ever.

my personal favourite is the term "vanity sizing"

Also note how its always used to talk about womens clothes. Never mens.