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Teenager mental health is struggling in these key states

Since the 2020 Pandemic, youth mental health has struggled. Social isolation, limited job opportunities, and virtual classes have increased the rates of anxiety, depression, and suicide risk for young adults and teenagers. 

The CDC runs a Youth Risk Behavior Survey every 10 years, which analyzes the trends in youth mental health over the past decade. As we thought, youth mental health suffered acutely during 2020, although it had been on a decline for a while. 

This article covers this study and others like it to paint a picture of youth mental health in the United States and what can be done about it. 

Youth Mental Health Over the Decade

The CDC found that all indicators of poor mental health and suicidal thoughts worsened over the past ten years. The metrics they used included:

  • Experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness
  • Experienced poor mental health
  • Seriously considered attempting suicide
  • Made a suicide plan 
  • Attempted suicide
  • Were injured in a suicide attempt that had to be treated by a doctor 

Their results were as followed:

  • In 2023, 4 out of every 10 students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness, a primary symptom of depression
  • 2 in 10 students seriously thought about committing suicide. 
  • 29% of high school students experienced poor mental health in 2023
  • There was a 10% increase in “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” (30% in 2013 and 40% in 2023.
  • “Seriously considering suicide” increased from 17% to 20%

However, the results were not all bleak. Around 2021, individual states started to implement youth mental health measures in their schools and communities. Mindfulness programs, virtual therapy in schools, incentives for students to graduate in the mental health field, and more awareness for youth mental health all aided the effort to improve our students’ mental health. 

These changes mattered. Nearly all indicators of poor mental health that the CDC measured improved between 2021 and 2023 by around 2%. For example, in 2021, 42% of youth experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. In 2023, that percentage was down to 40%. All indicators experienced a similar 2% decrease. 

Although 2% is not enough in the face of nearly half of students struggling with depression and other mental health problems, it is a positive change that can be capitalized on in the future as more healthy and life-saving resources are implemented. 

Teenager Mental Health in the States

With much of youth mental health left up to the states, some states had better luck at implementing successful strategies than others. Mental Health America (MHA) ran a study that looked at the rates of depression in teenagers in all of the states. This is what they found. 

The rankings were based on these seven factors:

  1.  Youth with at Least One Major Depressive Episode (MDE) in the Past Year
  2.  Youth with Substance Use Disorder in the Past Year
  3.  Youth with Serious Thoughts of Suicide
  4.  Youth (Ages 6-17) Flourishing
  5.  Youth with MDE Who Did Not Receive Mental Health Services
  6.  Youth with Private Insurance That Did Not Cover Mental or Emotional Problems
  7.  Students (kindergarten and older)) Identified with Emotional Disturbance for an Individualized Education Program.

Here is how the states matched up, with 1 being the state with the lowest level of depression and 51 being the state with the highest level of depression: 

  1. District of Columbia
  2. Delaware
  3. Wisconsin
  4. Pennsylvania
  5. Massachusetts
  6. New Jersey
  7. New Hampshire
  8. Connecticut
  9. Nevada
  10. Oklahoma
  11. Colorado
  12. Rhode Island
  13. Illinois
  14. Maryland
  15. Vermont
  16. South Carolina
  17. Wyoming
  18. North Dakota
  19. Mississippi
  20. New York
  21. Minnesota
  22. Georgia
  23. Indiana
  24. North Carolina
  25. South Dakota
  26. Iowa
  27. Ohio
  28. California
  29. Arizona
  30. Utah
  31. Kentucky
  32. Maine
  33. Florida
  34. New Mexico
  35. Michigan
  36. Missouri
  37. Alabama
  38. Alaska
  39. Montana
  40. Washington
  41. Tennessee
  42. Louisiana
  43. Hawaii
  44. Arkansas
  45. West Virginia
  46. Texas
  47. Idaho
  48. Virginia
  49. Nebraska
  50. Kansas
  51. Oregon

What are Delaware, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania doing that Oregon, Kansas, and Nebraska aren’t? It’s hard to know for sure. Access to quality mental health care is important for most mental health factors. This means having good insurance that covers therapy so it’s not too expensive and access to good therapists who can get you in relatively quickly and meet your needs. 

How to find a therapist for your teenager?

If your teenager is struggling with depression, therapy can help. Wherever you are, there are online therapists who can help. Online therapy is a great resource for teenagers because it does not require you to be in the same city or zipcode as your therapist and is often cheaper than in-person therapy.

We recommend Lifebulb Counseling and Therapy, an online therapy that operates in states across the U.S, including Texas, Georgia, Virginia, New Jersey, Arizona, Delaware, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia. 

Learn more by visiting their website or calling their team at 855-722-4422

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