Is there a misunderstanding about anxiety in teenage girls?

Anxiety is a common emotion experienced by people of all ages, but have we misunderstood its impact on teenage girls?

In today's fast-paced, high-pressure world, it is essential to understand the unique challenges that young girls face.

This article aims to shed light on the misconceptions surrounding anxiety in teenage girls and explore ways to support their mental health better.

Over the past decade, the number of American children and teenagers admitted to children’s hospitals for reporting suicidal thoughts has more than doubled. Some have not received help in time; after declining for years, the suicide rate for 15-to-19-year-olds shot up between 2007 and 2015, increasing by 31% for boys and more than doubling for girls. 

Teenage anxiety in the post-COVID era has become more prevalent due to various factors. The pandemic has upended the lives of teenagers, disrupting their routines, social interactions, and education.

The uncertainty surrounding the virus, the fear of getting infected, and the constant changes in restrictions and guidelines have all contributed to heightened anxiety levels.

School psychologist Dr Lisa Damour frequently have girls seeking help for anxiety issues during a typical week. The University of Oxford's latest research found that social media is responsible for only a tiny portion of teenagers' unhappiness despite it often being blamed.

Lisa agrees with this research, stating that social media tends to magnify what is already occurring in their lives and is not a separate entity. In her new book, Under Pressure, Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist and leading authority on teenage girls, argues that a certain level of stress and anxiety is typical and can have positive effects.

Being a professional working in a high-achieving private girls' school in Ohio and having her own practice, She observed that girls often discuss anxiety as a serious and lifelong condition. This realisation prompted her to write a book, as she noticed that almost every conversation she had at was centred around stress and anxiety in the past decade.

According to her, this phenomenon may be attributed to our cultural belief that negative emotions should be avoided and that relaxation and calm are highly valued. She believes that striving for constant peace and tranquillity is not necessarily beneficial, as it is unattainable and can result in disappointment and stress.

The author argues that the increasing use of quasi-medical diagnostic language can pathologise usual emotions, such as anxiety being used to describe nervousness and depression being used to express sadness. It was also noted that children are sometimes labelled as having "social anxiety" when they are shy in a culture that values extroversion.

She expresses a concern about reducing a broader range of emotional vocabulary. Educating teenagers about the distinction between positive and negative anxiety and healthy and unhealthy stress is occasionally necessary.