In response to your article, I suggest that at least some inner-city boys are tripped up by violence around them as much as are the girls discussed in the article. Even though women experience shame about mental illness or intense emotional disturbance, it’s socially OK to be a woman and have an anxiety illness. It’s still largely not OK to be a man and have emotional problems or an anxiety illness, unless it’s due to war or some other understandable male trauma. This is still very apparent in the work environment, in our rehabilitation institutions, and across society in general. In my personal experiences, a guy is expected to tough it out, no matter what.
C. Jewel
Cochiti Lake, N.M.
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