“These are children trying to understand and fit into an adult world,” observes Maria Bruce, LMHC, a New York–based licensed psychotherapist who specializes in working with high-achieving adolescents and adults, including athletes, dancers, and actors. Bruce says that the models she’s counseled struggle to navigate the mixed signals they get on the job. “They’re told to ‘grow up’ if they complain that they’re tired,” she says, “and yet in other ways they’re already treated as grown-ups.” This confusion, she says, leads teen models to feel too uncertain of their own authority to say no when they encounter dicey situations. Some muster the courage to speak up; most shut down.
“The teenage brain is sensitive to overload,” Bruce explains. “And some of the possible psychological consequences of dealing with these stressors include low self-esteem, obsessive-compulsive disorders, anxiety, and depression.”
