The majority of youth experiencing mental health problems recover with treatment and support. They need a safe, supportive and healthy home and school environment, strong and caring relationships with parents, and access to community-based services and supports.
The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the problem, but feelings of persistent sadness and hopelessness among teens have been getting worse for more than a decade. This is a national crisis.
Risk Factors
Research shows that a variety of factors can lead to mental health problems in teenagers. They include cognitive functions, family and social relationships and environmental factors. Those who experience a dysfunctional home environment, live with addicted parents and are in foster care or juvenile justice systems are at greater risk for developing mental health problems than others. They also have a higher rate of substance use disorders.
Youth who have a positive family life and supportive relationships are less likely to develop mental illness. The same is true for those who are LGBTQ and have a positive sense of self. Exposure to trauma can cause post-traumatic stress disorder, which is characterized by nightmares, sleep changes and an inability to relax. Other risk factors include exposure to bullying, poverty and academic stress. The panel ranked three of the biological risk factors as highly salient and feasible to measure: family history of depression, female sex and exposure to bullying.
Symptoms
Youth who experience mental health challenges can be at risk for a variety of negative outcomes. These include lower academic achievement, uncontrolled substance abuse and higher-risk sexual behaviors that lead to pregnancy, HIV, STIs and death.
Some of the most common symptoms of a mental health problem among teens are irritability, poor school performance, changes in appetite, and a lack of interest in friends or other activities that used to be enjoyable. These symptoms can also include thoughts of self-harm, depression or suicide.
Other signs of a mental health challenge are family problems, such as marital discord or difficult relationships with siblings and extended relatives, or emotional trauma from abuse or loss. These problems can lead to strained or broken relationships with close friends and romantic partners. They can also increase the likelihood of depression, suicidal thoughts and attempts, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and bipolar disorder (fascinating episodes of high energy alternating with periods of depression), or schizophrenia (loss of touch with reality). These disorders often occur together.
Treatment
A variety of treatments are available for youth health mental disorders. These include therapy, counseling, and medications when appropriate. Therapists work with teens to help them learn how to manage symptoms, and they also teach coping strategies.
Mental health problems in teens can have long-term effects, impacting their emotional well-being, academic performance, and social interactions. They can even cause physical symptoms like sleep disturbances and chronic pain. And they can interfere with future career and life opportunities.
The best way to address mental health needs in youth is through prevention. It’s important to create safe, supportive environments and promote positive relationships with adults. And to reduce access to tools for self-harm, such as firearms and prescription medications. Additionally, it’s vital to expand training for caregivers and educators and invest in research on the link between technology and youth mental health. Ultimately, addressing harmful megatrends like financial inequality and climate change can make it easier for young people to cope with mental distress.
Prevention
Mental health problems often go hand-in-hand with other risky behaviors like drug use, experiencing violence and higher-risk sexual behaviors that can lead to unintended pregnancy, HIV and STDs. Prevention is key to reducing these negative outcomes.
Providing routine screenings in schools for mental health challenges and coordinating with child-serving systems (like child welfare or juvenile justice) to connect students to services. Expanding training and support for educators and caregivers so that those who interact with youth daily have the skills to recognize and address mental health challenges.
Ensuring a robust crisis response system through 988 suicide and crisis lines that provides someone to call, somewhere to go and resources for help. A strong crisis system requires state leadership and coordination across a variety of agencies including education, law enforcement, social safety net programs, insurance regulators and workforce boards. This pillar also includes efforts to improve access to quality mental health care through expanding telemedicine, promoting innovative funding approaches with private sector organizations and philanthropies and exploring creative legislative platforms to advance critical issues.