Depressive and anxiety symptoms in youth doubled during the pandemic, with 25 percent experiencing depressive symptoms and 20 percent experiencing anxiety symptoms. Symptoms of depression had already been rising in teens in recent years.
Data from early 2021 shows that emergency room visits in the U.S. for suspected suicide attempts were 51 percent higher for girls and 4 percent higher for boys compared to the same period in early 2019.
As we continue to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, another health crisis is rising quickly behind it. The U.S. Surgeon General issued a public health advisory on the mental health challenges that children and teenagers are facing in the midst of the pandemic.
According to the Surgeon General’s report, depressive and anxiety symptoms in youth doubled during the pandemic, with 25 percent of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20 percent experiencing anxiety symptoms.
Beyond that, data from early 2021 shows that emergency room visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51 percent higher for girls and 4 percent higher for boys compared to the same period in early 2019. Depression and anxiety in youth pre-pandemic
Depression and anxiety levels have been rising for kids and teenagers even before the pandemic.
In 2019, 1 in 3 high school students and half of female students reported feelings of sadness or hopelessnessTrusted Source in the past year that they couldn’t participate in their regular activities, which is an increase of 40 percent since 2009.
But because of pandemic-related protocols, including reduced in-person interactions among friends, social supports, and professionals, experts say that it became more difficult to recognize the signs of child abuse, mental health issues, and other concerns.
“Social isolation through the pandemic, stress in school, conflict at home with parents who are also highly stressed creates a powder keg in the house.
Everyone has been dealing with an emotional experience during COVID,” said Becky Lois, PhD. Lois is co-director of the KiDS of NYU Foundation Integrated Behavioral Health Program at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone and a clinical psychologist in the Department of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at NYU Langone. According to the World Health Organization’s Determinants of Adolescent Health Development, there are several factors that can shape the mental health of young people.
