Parent Talk / April 2006
Add Stress to Sugar and Spice
Stress is hard on women, but may be even harder on girls. A report released in February by the Director of the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Seventeen magazine, and teen medical experts reveals that stress is driving girls into lethal behaviors that put their lives at risk.
According to the report, in 2004, 1.5 million girls started using alcohol, 173,000 more than the number of boys who started drinking. The report also shows there were
729,000 girls who started smoking cigarettes, 164,000 more than boys. The number of girls starting to use marijuana was 675,000, 98,000 more than boys.
The report cites stress, from peer pressure and the trials of being an adolescent in a fast-paced society, as the culprit for these and other dangerous behaviors in girls including eating disorders, other illegal drug use, prescription drug misuse, and low self esteem.
The mental health of young women is a family, community and societal problem that must be addressed as a whole, according to experts. Research indicates that over 90 % of girls want to change their appearance.
It is not the girls who need to change.
Copyright © 2005-2006 A Woman's View. All rights reserved.
Femme Fair 2006
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