The Disappearing Girl: Learning the Language of Teenage Depression

by Lisa Machoian

Book Overview

Adults are increasingly concerned about the rising rate of depression in teenage girls and the frequency of alarming behaviors including wild conduct, explosive outbursts, back talking, sexual escapades, drug experimentation, and even cutting, eating disorders, and suicide attempts. The Disappearing Girl , the first book on depression in teenage girls, helps parents understand: - Why silence reflects a girl's desperate wish for inclusion, not isolation...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452287103
• ISBN13: 9780452287105
• Release Date: February 2006
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.5" x 8.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

An uplifting book on depression!

Paradoxically enough, Lisa's book on teenage depression was quite uplifting! While recognizing and validating the severity of the increasing levels of depression and suicide attempts in teenage girls, Lisa's book also offers hope. The theme of her book is nicely summarized in her introductory comment of: "No matter how despairing [teenage girls] may feel, there is always a spark of hope with them, and the energy to make their troubles visible to themselves and others." The book focuses on how we can keep our eyes and ears open to the language of teenage depression, and ultimately help the girls find their "spark." Lisa illustrates how teenage girls are especially at risk for depression when they silence their inner core of self in an attempt to conform and belong with others. Empty inside, these girls crave genuine connections to bring them back to life. This book helps to pave that road from isolation to connection. The Disappearing Girl also offers a look into the cognitive, societal, and developmental contributors of teenage depression, as well as tools and resources to help these girls develop coping strategies and healthy relationships to help them in their struggles. Whether you're a parent, friend, teacher, or therapist of a teenager who is depressed, or are a depressed teenager yourself, Lisa's book offers a lifeline worth reaching out for.

Extremely Helpful

If you're a parent of an adolescent girl, then you need to read "The Disappearing Girl" by Dr. Lisa Machioan. With it being written specifically for depression in teenage girls, it is a very helpful resource for parents, friends and even the disappearing girl herself to use when a teenage girl you know or you yourself are experiencing signs of depression. It uses real-life stories told by girls who have been in all kinds of situations involving depression and even suicide attempts to give the reader an honest look at the many different things that may spark depression in the teenage girl. It also gives helpful suggestions on what to do to keep depression from ruling young girl's lives. I highly recommend this to everyone involved in a depressed girl's life, or even to all mothers with a young daughter who may fall victim to depression.

Great Resource for Parents of Teenage Girls

Whether or not you think your teenage girl is depressed, this is a valuable resource. The author's perspective is so down-to-earth, her advice so accessible, and her care for the girls so evident, that this book is a must-read for any parent of a depressed teenage girl, and a should-read for any parent of any teenage girl. For anyone who liked "Silencing the Self" by Dana Crowley Jack -- that was research about depressed women -- this is a very similar book about depressed girls. What makes those two books so valuable is that they are based on counseling actual women and girls--not on theoretical psychology derived in the vacuum of an ivory tower.

Lisa knows girls!

I was molested as a young child, until I was 12. I have never read ANY book that hit home like Dr. Machoian's The Disappearing Girl. I wish my Mom had read it. Thanks for this wonderful book. I loved it.

Every Mom Needs This Book on the Shelf

A must read - for all Moms of adolescent girls. Excellent tips on the signals teenagers give out that parents often overlook and how to tell the difference between typical adolescent behavior and signals of real trouble. Numerous tips and practical advice to solve the issues that all teenage girls go through.