2 - Family Life

Summary

Families have the potential for causing harm and can play a part in the onset of mental health problems. Women’s behaviour is judged by a different set of standards to that of men. Parents still socialise girls differently from boys. The pressures of family life chip away at our confidence and self-esteem and powerfully influencing our ability to make successful adult relationships. Girls and women may be told that they are ‘hysterical’ or ‘out of their mind’ when their emotional response is quite justified by what is happening to them. However, life pressures can also trigger mental illness, and family stress such as living in poverty and with domestic violence can make this worse. Girls and young women experience much more sexual abuse during childhood than boys – the sheer extent of which was not acknowledged in the past. Improving material and psychological support to families is a mammoth task, but what is within our power, among our own friends, families and communities, is to do something when we suspect that young women are experiencing trauma and abuse – believing, helping and supporting them to find someone to share their stories with who is trustworthy and skilled.