Girls on the Brink

Helping Our Daughters Thrive in an Era of Increased Anxiety, Depression, and Social Media

By: Donna Jackson Nakazawa

Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen

15 revelatory strategies for raising emotionally healthy girls, based on cutting-edge science that explains the modern pressures that make it so difficult for adolescent girls to thrive

Anyone caring for girls today knows that our daughters, students, and girls next door are more anxious and more prone to depression and self-harming than ever before. The question that no one has yet been able to credibly answer is Why?

Now we have answers. As award-winning writer Donna Jackson Nakazawa deftly explains in Girls on the Brink, new findings reveal that the crisis facing today’s girls is a biologically rooted phenomenon: the earlier onset of puberty mixes badly with the unchecked bloom of social media and cultural misogyny. When this toxic clash occurs during the critical neurodevelopmental window of adolescence, it can alter the female stress-immune response in ways that derail healthy emotional development.

But our new understanding of the biology of modern girlhood yields good news, too. Though puberty is a particularly critical and vulnerable period, it is also a time during which the female adolescent brain is highly flexible and responsive to certain kinds of support and scaffolding. Indeed, we know now that a girl’s innate sensitivity to her environment can, with the right conditions, become her superpower. Jackson Nakazawa details the common denominators of such support, shedding new light on the keys to preventing mental health concerns in girls as well as helping those who are already struggling. Drawing on insights from both the latest science and interviews with girls about their adolescent experiences, the author carefully guides adults through fifteen “antidote” strategies to help any teenage girl thrive in the face of stress, including how to nurture the parent-child connection through the rollercoaster of adolescence, core ingredients to building a sense of safety and security for your teenage girl at home, and how to foster the foundations of long-term resilience in our girls so they’re ready to face the world.

Neuroprotective and healing, the strategies in Girls on the Brink amount to a new playbook for how we—parents, families, and the human tribe—can secure a healthy emotional inner life for all of our girls.

*Includes a downloadable PDF of resources from the book

Critic reviews

“Some books translate science into understandable language; some offer advice in the form of actionable steps; and some weave stories that grab you by the heart. This one—miraculously—does all three.”—Cara Natterson, MD, bestselling author of The Care and Keeping of You 2 and Decoding Boys

“After describing the environmental and physiological ‘toxic stressors’ on girls, Nakazawa offers simple but powerful ways to combat them. And she doesn’t only explain why it’s beneficial to keep your children from certain online influences as long as you can—she actually has a step-by-step program for how to do it.”—Judith Newman, The New York Times Book Review

“A perceptive, informative examination of the problems young American girls face and how to change them . . . All of the author’s advice is sound, and her insights into how to start the process of change make this an important book for parents of girls.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“The smart analysis and wealth of neuroscientific and psychological research adds nuance to public discourse around girls’ mental health. . . . Timely and incisive, this issues an acute warning that the kids are not alright.”—Publishers Weekly

The MOST important book you can read for Girls

As the mother of a teenage son and a preteen son, I just listened to Girls on the Brink. This book provides adults with a mirror and tools to understand our own childhood/teen trauma and adversity and the challenges that have followed. Further, and more specifically, this book is a must-read for parents - particularly for parents of girls. It's vital reading for anyone who knows girls. Donna Jackson Nakazawa tackles the pressing question: "What is going on with our girls?" She highlights research, studies, and interviews. She probes the question scientifically and personally - interviewing girls, young women, and a wide range of specialists, including scientists, professors, doctors, and more. After painting a vivid and complete picture of the issues facing girls, Donna Jackson Nakazawa devotes the largest portion of her book to fifteen antidotes: fifteen ways we can help and support girls, so they may thrive in these challenging times. In addition, the reader Sarah Mollo-Christenson does a beautiful job reading Girls on the Brink. I can't recommend this book highly enough. I have already purchased 4 printed copies to share with friends, and I'll be purchasing more soon. Thank you to Donna Jackson Nakazawa for writing this compelling, urgent, and life-blessing book.

Just read

As a mental health therapist who works with teen girls and a mother of teen girls, this book is a must read! It highlights the importance of neuroscience, connection and the need for belongingness!

Wonderful information

This was such a helpful book, with insight to understand some things you was ignorant about, in regards to my own upcoming young adult, daughter. At times, it was unnerving but always informative with many resources of where to go next, in terms of our behaviors as a society and a mom.