Adolescence - A Girl on LSD

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As far as emotional development, Reviving Ophelia suggests that you think of every adolescent girl as being on LSD. Emotions are intense. When they are happy, they are ecstatic. When something bad happens, however, it is the end of the world. A young lady will easily lose herself in her struggle with her emotions. But in today's society, it is a miracle that some of us make it out in one piece. Dr. Phipher talked about one young lady that reminded me so much of me.

In today's society, there is some much more to worry about than breaking a nail or gaining two pounds. Today, girls have to worry about date rape, abuse, and tragic diseases that run rampant among everyone. A girl will deal with these threats and obstacles in different ways.

As a teen, I projected onto others. Rather than dealing with my emotions, I lost myself in an unhealthy relationship with a slightly older man that was no good for me. I knew he was a loser and a gansta wannabe. I knew that he had dropped out of high school and run away from home at a young age. But I was so desperate to concern myself with making others happy that all of that did not matter. I could make him happy. I believed that it would be the worst thing in the world to lose him and I let him get away with more than I ever let anyone get away with. But, you know what, when it did end, when I could not longer make him happy, and when I found myself again, that loss was not the end of the world.

Yes, we as adult can look back and examine our teen years, however, our girls, who are in the throws of their wild and rampant emotions, don't have the benefit of examining the reasons for their behavior, or the behavior of those around them. Our girls have to try to muddle through the best they can, just like we did. They will make mistakes, it's our job, as parents, to love them anyway.