As a parent of a one-year-old, pausing to reflect on what her mental-health future may look like ten or 15 years from now can feel at times nebulous and overwhelming. It often feels like another thing to add to the already long laundry list of parental worries…in addition to the actual laundry.
Yet I am often troubled by headlines that highlight the spiralling rates of youth suicides and hospitalisations in the US. In 2021, approximately 20% of adolescents had symptoms of a major depressive disorder; yet less than half of them actually received treatment.1 The need for action is clear; success, and thereby our children’s future, hinges on our collective social responsibility to support not only our children, but also American parents and families.
The kids are not all right: size and scope of a silent epidemic
In the US today, a silent epidemic is raging; America’s teens are experiencing an unprecedented mental health crisis. For more than a decade, rates of anxiety and depression have been on the rise, only to be accelerated by the covid-19 pandemic. Beyond the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) evidence highlighted in the callout box, Economist Impact research conducted in 2022 and 2023, sponsored by CIGNA, confirmed this trend, showing that more than three years since the start of the pandemic, nearly half of US parents (47%) reported in 2023 that their teen experienced mental health challenges such as anxiety, depression, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism-spectrum disorder.3
- 42% of high-school students experienced “persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness,” up 14% since 2011.
- 22% of high schoolers report having “seriously considered attempting suicide,” up 8% since 2011.
- Rates of psychological distress were highest amongst girls and those most vulnerable, including youth with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, and LBGTQ+ teens.
And yet they are not the only ones
Perhaps most importantly, Economist Impact’s research also highlighted that teen mental health issues cannot be considered in a vacuum. While they may directly impact overall youth well-being, they have an acute ripple effect on parents, and subsequently their local communities overall. As a result:
- Parents are battling their own emotional challenges: US parents continuously report increased challenges with their own mental health and financial strain due to their teen’s mental health issues. In fact, over 25% of parents said in a 2023 Economist Impact survey that their mental health has been negatively affected by their teen’s mental health struggles and report feeling overwhelmed by their child’s emotional challenges and needs. Their relationships, both personal and professional, have suffered as a result.
- Parents’ engagement and productivity at work is impacted: More than one in five US working parents reported in a 2022 Economist Impact survey that they had to seek more flexible or reduced working hours to tend to their child’s mental health needs, yet over 55% reported not receiving sufficient support (e.g. flexible hours) from their employer. Meanwhile, 18% of parents reported a negative impact on their work performance and productivity, while nearly 14% reported having to leave or stay out of the workforce altogether.
- Parents are struggling to find help for their child: Our 2023 Economist Impact survey revealed that US parents encounter multiple barriers to getting mental health help for their teens, including: not knowing the type of help needed (50%), difficulty finding a trusted provider (46%), lack of information about community resources (43%), and lack of support from schools (43%). Nearly half (43%) also identified the cost of diagnosis and care as a barrier and half indicated that they experience stigma.
Against this backdrop, many teens and parents turn to their local communities for help and support. Parents surveyed by Economist Impact in 2023 confirmed the benefits that communities can offer, ranking community-based activities as equally important as traditional therapy resources. This underscores the vital importance that community support can have in building not only emotional interconnectedness and shared experience, but fostering mental health resilience.
The alarm bells have been sounded. Now what?
In the wake of the pandemic, a new pathway must be charted to tackle this issue. Yet this cannot be addressed in silos—it requires concerted commitment and collective collaboration. There is a need for:
- A multi-faceted response: There is an overwhelming and urgent need to consider the impact of the teen mental health crisis not only on teens themselves, but on parents, families and communities overall. Looking at this issue through a single-lens approach would prevent us from seeing beyond the tip of the iceberg and subsequently the potential leverage points for intervention.
- Early action: Timely intervention is critical. From ensuring that teachers and school officials are better equipped to recognise, manage and address the mental health challenges and needs of their students, to safeguarding adequate access to appropriate services and information, regardless of socioeconomic status and post code. For care to be timely and effective, mental health literacy must be also prioritised and fear of social stigma must be addressed.
- Creative community-led interventions: There is a need to equip and empower local communities with the tools and resources to offer mental health services and wellness programmes, as well as opportunities for social interaction, inclusion and belonging, like access to athletic programmes, youth organisations, faith centres, safe outdoor spaces and local civic groups—the bedrock of our social fabric.
Parenting has often been said to be the hardest job of all. It is our responsibility as parents to care for and protect our children. However, the old adage of “it takes a village” remains true. Our community has a collective responsibility to our children, but also to us, parents. Parents who have a “village” to lean and rely on as a sounding board and a source of support are better equipped to support, protect and nurture their children—thus, in turn, creating a happier, healthier and more resilient society overall.
We have troubling stats at our fingertips and we know the cost of inaction—the very future and well-being of our children. As a parent, I would like to remove this from my laundry list of worries and hope for a future where my daughter’s mental health is prioritised, and not stigmatised or dismissed, and she has a “village” that she can lean and depend on without judgement or embarrassment.
References
1 Flores MW, Sharp A, Carson NJ, et al. Estimates of major depressive disorder and treatment among adolescents by race and ethnicity. JAMA pediatrics. 2023 Nov 1;177(11):1215-23.
2 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Youth Risk Survey: Data Summary & Trends Report. Washington, D.C.: United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2021. Available from: https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/pdf/YRBS_Data-Summary-Trends_Report2023_508.pdf
3 Economist Impact. The US youth mental health crisis demands a community response. London: The Economist Group, 2023. Available from: https://impact.economist.com/perspectives/sites/default/files/cigna_teen_mental_health.pdf
