Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Perlick, Deborah.

Description

1. x, 214 pages : illustrations; 25 cm

Summary

1. "In The Cost of Competence, authors Brett Silverstein and Deborah Perlick argue that rather than simply labeling individual women as, say, anorexic or depressed, it is time to look harder at the widespread prejudices within our society and child-rearing practices that lead thousands of young women to equate thinness with competence and success, and femininity with failure. They argue that continuing to treat depression, anxiety, anorexia and bulimia as separate disorders in young women can, in many cases, be a misguided approach since they are really part of a single syndrome. Furthermore, their fascinating research into the lives of forty prominent women from Elizabeth I to Eleanor Roosevelt show that these symptoms have been disrupting the lives of bright, ambitious women not for decades, but for centuries." "Drawing on all the latest findings, rare historical research, cross-cultural comparisons, and their own study of over 2,000 contemporary women attending high schools and colleges, the authors present powerful new evidence to support the existence of a syndrome they call anxious somatic depression." "The authors show that identifying this devastating syndrome is a first step toward its prevention and cure. The Cost of Competence presents an urgent message to parents, educators, policymakers, and the medical community on the crucial importance of providing young women with equal opportunity, and equal respect."--Jacket.

Subject

1. Women > Mental health > Sociological aspects
2. Sex role
3. Achievement motivation in women
4. Self-esteem in women
5. Eating disorders
6. Somatic symptom disorder
7. Depression in women
8. Anxiety in women
9. Prejudices
10. Gender identity
11. Prejudice
12. Women > psychology
13. Depressive Disorder > psychology
14. Feeding and Eating Disorders > psychology
15. Gender Identity
16. Somatoform Disorders > psychology
17. Feeding and Eating Disorders
18. Gender Role
19. sex role
20. 44.16 mental health service
21. Prejudices
22. Gender identity
23. Achievement motivation in women
24. Anxiety in women
25. Depression in women
26. Eating disorders
27. Self-esteem in women
28. Sex role
29. Somatic symptom disorder
30. Women > Mental health > Sociological aspects
31. Soziale Rolle
32. Psychische Störung
33. Diskriminierung
34. Gesundheitsgefährdung
35. Frau
36. Vrouwen
37. Geestelijke gezondheid
38. Zelfwaardering
39. Eetstoornissen
40. Depressies (psychiatrie)
41. Prestatiemotivatie
42. Somatization disorder

Contents

1. The forgotten syndrome. Curves and competence -- The disease of young women -- Depression -- Anxious somatic depression -- Tying the knot: marriage, childbearing, and sexuality -- Females, families, and achievement. Daughters and sons -- Idealized fathers, devalued mothers -- The theory of gender ambivalence. Adolescence -- Gender ambivalence -- Anxious somatic depression during periods of changing gender roles -- Practical implications of our findings. Recognition, prevention, and treatment.

Owning institution

1. Princeton University Library

Bibliography (note)

1. Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-209) and index.