Girls on the Brink: Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media

Anyone on the front lines of caring for girls today--parents, school nurses, guidance counselors--knows that girls are more anxious and more prone to depression and self-harming than ever before. New science confirms this is a biologically-rooted phenomenon, set in motion by the earlier onset of puberty, the evolutionary predisposition of the female brain to react to perceived threats, and social media platforms that subject girls to entrenched societal sexism. Indeed, as award-winning writer Donna Jackson Nakazawa deftly explains in Girls on the Edge, during the critical neurodevelopmental window of adolescence, these factors may be altering the female stress-immune response in ways that derail thriving.

But our new understanding of modern girlhood yields good news, too. We know now that a girl's innate sensitivity to her environment can, with the right conditions, become her superpower. And from recent studies and trial interventions, we better understand the keys to preventing mental health concerns in girls as well as helping those who are already struggling. Drawing on insights from both the latest science and interviews with girls themselves, Jackson Nakazawa guides adults through fifteen "antidote" strategies to help any teenage girl thrive in the face of stress, including how to use your words to encourage a sense of safe harbor at home; how to help her find a mentor or "avatar" for outside encouragement; and how to help her find a sense of "something bigger" to focus her attention in positive ways.

Neuroprotective and healing, the strategies in Girls on the Edge amount to a new playbook for how we--parents, families, and the human tribe--can secure a healthy emotional inner life for all of our girls.