Reaching Out

Sophie Araque-Liu knows what it feels like to struggle. Like many teens, the 17-year-old from Stuart, Florida, attended school remotely during the pandemic and was unable to see her friends in person. She felt isolated and alone. “I was kind of embarrassed to reach out and tell people what I was going through,” she recalls.

Sophie’s story isn’t unusual. The number of kids and teens struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues has spiked in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 44 percent of high school students in the United States reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021—up from 37 percent in 2019. 

Mental health—which includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being—has become one of the biggest health concerns facing American teens today, officials say.

“Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread,” says U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. 

In 2021, Murthy issued an advisory calling youth mental health an urgent public health crisis. “The future well-being of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation,” he says.

Sophie Araque-Liu knows what it feels like to struggle. The 17-year-old is from Stuart, Florida. Like many teens, she attended school remotely during the pandemic. She was unable to see her friends in person. She felt isolated and alone. “I was kind of embarrassed to reach out and tell people what I was going through,” she recalls.

Sophie’s story is not unusual. The number of kids and teens struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues has spiked in recent years. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 44 percent of high school students in the United States reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. That is up from 37 percent in 2019.

Mental health includes emotional, psychological, and social well-being. Officials say it has become one of the biggest health concerns facing American teens today.

“Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real and widespread,” says U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy.

In 2021, Murthy put out an advisory that called youth mental health an urgent public health crisis. “The future well-being of our country depends on how we support and invest in the next generation,” he says.

Rates of depression and anxiety among teens in the U.S. have been rising over the past decade. But recently, experts say, multiple factors—including social media, the pandemic, lack of sleep, and less exercise—have worsened the problem. 

The latest research shows that social media use among teens and tweens jumped nearly 17 percent from 2019 to 2021. While social media can help people feel connected, there are downsides: It can expose teens to bullying, rumors, and unrealistic views of other people’s lives.

Rates of depression and anxiety among teens in the U.S. have been rising over the past decade. But experts say that recently, multiple factors have made the problem worse. These include social media, the pandemic, lack of sleep, and less exercise.

The latest research shows that social media use among teens and tweens jumped nearly 17 percent from 2019 to 2021. Social media can help people feel connected. But there are downsides. It can expose teens to bullying, rumors, and unrealistic views of other people’s lives.

The pandemic strained families economically, disrupted learning, and resulted in less in-person time with teachers, family, and friends. Many teens—like Sophie—lost direct connections during a critical period in their lives and still haven’t fully recovered, says Stacy McAllister, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania. 

“Teens are supposed to be out exploring the world, testing their abilities, building relationships, and figuring out who they are and who they want to become,” explains McAllister. “Even though we are ‘back to normal,’ many teens are trying to figure out how to feel normal after missing out on so much for so long.”

The pandemic strained families economically and disrupted learning. It also resulted in less in-person time with teachers, family, and friends. Like Sophie, many teens lost direct connections during a critical period in their lives. And they still have not fully recovered, says Stacy McAllister. She is a child and adolescent psychiatrist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia in Pennsylvania.

“Teens are supposed to be out exploring the world, testing their abilities, building relationships, and figuring out who they are and who they want to become,” explains McAllister. “Even though we are ‘back to normal,’ many teens are trying to figure out how to feel normal after missing out on so much for so long.”