Paying Attention to Youth Mental Health
By Vicky Garalina, Ed. D, LCSW, Inspiring Futures founder and Cohort 11 alum
As we roll through 2024, some may see the global pandemic that started in 2020 as a distant memory. We collectively have not stopped to process what happened on a large scale, or the effects on people that may continue for years to come. We are still unsure how the pandemic will impact students academically and emotionally in the future. We do know however, that youth mental health, which has been on the decline for over a decade, has continued to worsen. According to the Center for Disease Control, the number of high school students feeling so sad or hopeless every day for two or more weeks, that they stopped doing some things they normally would, has increased steadily since 2009, with the pandemic exacerbating the trend. In fact, 42% of high school students reported feeling so sad or hopeless daily that they stopped doing usual activities, up from 26% in 2009. In 2021, youth mental health became so dire that the attorney general declared a youth mental health crisis (Richtel, 2021).
While thinking about this trend and these statistics can seem overwhelming, there are concrete things caregivers and youth can do to improve mental health. First and foremost, it is crucial to acknowledge that mental health symptoms are real and not just "attention-seeking” or “laziness”. Symptoms of depression, for example, can include losing interest in things one used to enjoy, and a lack of motivation (DSM, 2022). Depression in teenagers can also include irritability, which can sometimes be confused for defiance or “being difficult.” Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can also include irritability, as well as hypervigilance, and a fight or flight response that is frequently activated and can be confused for combativeness. It is important to note that in the case of PTSD and other diagnoses, these symptoms often were adaptive at some point, helping the individual survive.
While it is important not to minimize mental health symptoms, it is also important not to self-diagnosis or diagnose others, as only a mental health professional can diagnose someone with a mental health disorder. In fact, diagnoses are just clusters of symptoms, and for example, a person can be sad without meeting criteria for depression, or can be anxious without having a diagnosis of an anxiety disorder.
If you are concerned about a youth, and they appear to be struggling, open dialogue and talking to the young person directly can help, as it shows you care and are willing and able to help them with whatever they are dealing with. You can also encourage them to seek help from a therapist if they are open. Students 13 to 17 years old living in New York city can now access virtual therapy through Talkspace for free. There are also specialized therapists that work in person and virtually. Inspiring Futures, for example, which is also free, offers specialized therapy for system-involved youth and young adults 14+. For youth who prefer texting, there are 24/7 mental health text and call support lines such as the Trevor Project (Text 678678) or the Crisis Text Line (Text HOME to 741741). Lastly, for urgent situations and more resources you can call or text 988, which is the National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed., text rev.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). 1991-2021 High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data. Available at http://yrbs-explorer.services.cdc.gov/.
Richtel, M. (2021). Surgeon General Warns of Youth Mental Health Crisis. The New York Times. Available at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/science/pandemic-adolescents-depression-anxiety.html
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