Self Help / Depression
Heal Your Daughter: How Lifestyle Psychiatry Can Save Her from Depression, Cutting, and Suicidal Thoughts is an essential read for any parent, caretaker, teacher, or mentor of teenage girls. The author, Dr. Cheryl L. Green, is a psychiatrist with degrees from Harvard University (A.B.), Princeton University (Ph.D.), and Stanford University School of Medicine (M.D.). She is board-certified in Psychiatry, Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Lifestyle Medicine. Her methodology centers around a newer branch of psychiatric study known as “lifestyle psychiatry,” which she believes can be used to improve teenagers’ physical and mental health by adjusting their daily habits. According to the American Pyschiatric Association, lifestyle psychiatry “focuses on addressing psychiatric disorders through an integrated, holistic approach to health, which includes recommendations for exercise, diet, sleep and mindfulness practice for helping people manage their psychiatric disorders” (Noordsy, 2019).
Fluctuating hormones, adjusting to huge life changes, and social pressures cause a natural amount of sadness, isolation, and confusion amongst all teenagers. Depression and anxiety are undeniable mental health issues sweeping our nation, regardless of gender or background. However, the rise of depression amongst adolescent girls has increased drastically following the COVID19 pandemic. From her experiences owning a private practice and teaching at medical universities, Dr. Green has reported a “rising tide of despair” in young women nationwide. These findings can make anyone with a teenage daughter, family member, student, or patient feel hopeless. Fortunately, lifestyle psychiatry has promising outcomes. Dr. Green’s proposal combines holistic medicine with logic and common sense to offer a sustainable approach to mental health that young women can use for the rest of their lives. Her book is broken into six sections, each of which tackles a different component of mental health: nutrition, detoxification, exercise, sleep, emotional connectedness, and stress reduction. This easily digestible, realistic wisdom will help readers learn how to support young women’s mental health through every stage of adolescence.
As a woman in her mid-twenties and a former youth minister, I can easily imagine the stress and anxiety anyone would face raising a Gen-Z teenager. From my own experiences, I know that self-harm, eating disorders, and suicidal ideation are far too common amongst young women – both in reality and online. The findings in this book have the potential to make a critical difference in your daughter, student, or relative’s life. She’s in one of the most overwhelming stages of her life, and she needs your support and love more than ever.
Sources: Noordsy, DL. (editor) Lifestyle Psychiatry. American Psychiatric Association Publishing. 2019.
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