Girls today are under what Dr. Stephen Hinshaw considers unprecedented levels of stress. In his book The Triple Bind, Hinshaw says that 20 percent of girls ages 10-19 experience episodes of major depression, 10 percent try to kill themselves, and 5 percent have an eating disorder. Girls’ rates of aggression and self-mutilation both appear to be on the rise, as well.
“It all goes back to expectations,” says one girl quoted in the book. “First of all they are impossible, and second of all, we don’t know what they are.” [today.msnbc.com, 2/10/09]
