Girls in Britain aged between 10 and 15 are becoming more miserable, suggests the Children’s Society’s annual report with figures showing that 14% are unhappy with their lives as a whole, and 34% with their appearance.
And, reports the BBC, the figures for England, Wales and Scotland for 2013-14 represent a sharp rise in unhappiness on five years before. Researchers were told of girls feeling ugly or worthless.
The figures for England, Wales and Scotland for 2013-14 represent a sharp rise in unhappiness on five years before.
The charity’s annual Good Childhood Report, now in its 11th year, draws its findings on teenager happiness from the Understanding Society Survey which gathers data on 40,000 households across the UK.
Children’s Society and University of York researchers examined responses on the well-being of 10 to 15-year-olds.
The study highlighted the growing pressure of social media and suggested that a tough economic climate had created a more ‘serious’ generation of young people.
Lucy Capron from the Children’s Society told BBC Radio 5 Live: “This isn’t something which can be explained away by hormones or just the natural course of growing up, actually this is something that we need to take seriously and we need to address.”
And these pressures cause stress, anxiety, low self-esteem and angst.
While teenage angst is nothing new, Ms Capron said: “What’s new and what the Children’s Society has unveiled is the scale of the problem – particularly the fact that the gap between boys and girls is getting wider and that’s something that we should be worried about.”
Ms Capron said relationships, and the way they are played out on social media, are big drivers in a young person’s life.
“Some other research has shown that girls are spending a lot more time on social media – up to three hours a night in some cases – and we need to make sure that’s done in a safe way,” she told the BBC.
Therapist Emma Kenny said: “We edit our lives constantly on social media but also we have to look at the deeper-rooted issue – which is the fact that young girls know from a very early age that they are judged on their appearance.”
Dealing with issues like stress, anxiety, bullying and low self-esteem can be effectively done though clinical hypnotherapy and the National Council for Hypnotherapy has more than 1,800 registered and qualified therapists across the UK who are trained to cope with these issues.
“We live in a society where great demands and responsibilities are placed on us,” says the NCH, “and, while some people manage, more and more people are showing signs of over-anxiety, which leads to stress, which can make a significant impact on the quality of life and wellbeing.”
Whether the person suffering stress is an adult or a child and no matter what the cause of the problem is, hypnotherapy can help and, after a few sessions, can eradicate the problem.
In the initial session, the hypnotherapist can help assess the cause of the anxiety, identifying the root of stress or anxiety and then, using various techniques, will work with the person to address the problem.
Says the NCH: “Hypnosis is not always a trance state or a sleep state even though a person in hypnosis may appear to be sleeping. Hypnosis is a natural state of mind and is an important part of everyday life.
“Whenever our mind wanders, daydreams or is focused on something, such as reading a book, driving a familiar route, watching a film we are in a state of hypnosis.”
The person will be led, by means of the hypnotherapist’s gently guiding voice, into a state where the body and mind are relaxed and nearly asleep.
To an onlooker it might seem as if the person is totally asleep but in fact, though they will normally feel very relaxed, they will remain awake enough to be aware.
“Also awake will be those parts of your mind which the therapist is working with to induce beneficial changes,” says the NCH. “This may mean that they will be picturing, as in a daydream, the things which are being spoken of and they may experience the associated pleasant feelings.”