Books, seminar help girls build self-esteem
Monday, September 29, 2008
By Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood
The Grand Rapids Press
It's a great time to be an American woman, right?

Girls today can realistically consider every option as they map out their futures. They can run for president, be a professional athlete, CEO, mother or combination of these.

And little girls believe they can do anything. Just ask the nearest preschooler.

Cracking the problem of what holds the universe together seems relatively easy compared to the challenge of keeping sex good. Personally, I’ve had so many sex problems over the years that I thought that’s just the nature of sex. If only I’d had this book years ago: When Sex Isn’t Good, Stories and Solutions of Women with Sexual Dysfunction, by Lillian Arleque, Ed.D.; Sue W. Goldstein, A.B.; and Irwin Goldstein, M.D., Director of Sexual Medicine, Alvarado Hospital, San Diego, CA, Medical Consultant.

No parent wants to hear or believe that their teenage son or daughter is depressed, but it happens. It could be that the teen is having difficulty in dealing with the loss of a family member or close friend, are having difficulty with other students at school or are suffering from stresses from home, school and/or work. Ignoring the problem will not help it go away. Parents who believe their child might be depressed should find help for their teenage son or daughter, instead of ignoring the problem and hoping that it will go away.

“America the Beautiful” is a new documentary that examines America’s obsession with beauty and what the markers are for being ‘beautiful.’ The movie follows a girl, Garren Taylor, who was cast into the modeling world at 12 and was told by 15 that she was ‘fat.’

Clearly, Taylor is a long way from fat.

Obviously, Taylor’s first reaction was emotional – she was angry and she said she slipped into a slight eating disorder. Her next reaction was to seek support and speak out.

Poor self-esteem and low confidence can have a huge impact on how a child mentally develops, in how they interact with other students at school and how they do academically in school. It could cause marks to fall, cause depression to develop, cause one to become withdrawn and lead to problems in developing the social life. Parents can work with their children to deal with low self-esteem and poor confidence so that the children can have a more positive experience at school.

There are many different causes of depression, many of which are environmental factors, physical health factors, mental health factors and social factors. There are, however, a number of personal factors of a person that can cause them to fall into a depression. A person’s outlook on life, for example, can be enough to either keep them out of depression, or make them more susceptible to falling into a depression. Having a negative outlook on life or a pessimistic outlook on life can increase the chances of becoming depressed, because life is not as enjoyable as it should be.

Hundreds live their lives without realizing they are depressed. How can this be?