Sobriety

Mental Health is a Problem for Many Adolescents

Adolescence is a time for young people to have a healthy start in life. The number of adolescents reporting poor mental health is increasing. Building strong bonds and connecting to youth can protect their mental health. Schools and parents can create these protective relationships with students and help them grow into healthy adulthood.

In 2021, more than 4 in 10 (42%) students felt persistently sad or hopeless and nearly one third (29%) experienced poor mental health.
In 2021, more than 1 in 5 (22%) students seriously considered attempting suicide and 1 in 10 (10%) attempted suicide.

Why the Big Deal?

Poor mental health in adolescence is more than feeling blue. It can impact many areas of a teen’s life. Youth with poor mental health may struggle with school and grades, decision making, and their health.

Mental health problems in youth often go hand-in-hand with other health and behavioral risks like increased risk of drug use, experiencing violence, and higher risk sexual behaviors, and unintended pregnancy. Because many health behaviors and habits are established in adolescence that will carry over into adult years, it is very important to help youth develop good mental health.

The good news is that teens are resilient, and we know what works to support their mental health: feeling connected to school and family.

The same prevention strategies that promote mental health—like helping students feel connected to school/family—help prevent a range of negative experiences, like drug use and violence. Building strong bonds and relationships with adults and friends at school, at home and in the community provides youth with a sense of connectedness.

This feeling of connectedness is important and can protect adolescents from poor mental health, and other risks like drug use and violence.

Youth need to know someone cares about them. Connections can be made virtually or in person.

Supporting Teen Mental Health

As we’ve learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, schools are critical in our communities to supporting children and families. While the expectation is that schools provide education, they also provide opportunities for youth to engage in physical activity and academic, social, mental health, and physical health services, all of which can relieve stress and help protect against negative outcomes.

The pandemic disrupted many school-based services, increasing the burden on parents, increasing stress on families, and potentially affecting long-term health outcomes for parents and children alike, especially among families already at risk for negative health outcomes from social and environmental factors. Support is needed to mitigate these negative outcomes and lessen educational and health disparities. Critical supports and services need to be comprehensive and community wide and should include:

What schools can do:

Helping schools provide safe and supportive environments—whether in person or virtually—is critical to students’ wellbeing.
Link students to mental health services.
Integrating social emotional learning.
Training staff.
Supporting staff mental health.
Reviewing discipline policies to ensure equity.
Building safe and supportive environments.