Dear Peace Parents and Families,
I’m so grateful to those of you who attended Sunday’s education session on teen mental health. As someone who has worked with students for over a decade, I can’t emphasize enough how important an issue it is for them and needs to be for you.
For those who weren’t able to attend, mental health has been declining in the United States—across all ages and demographics—for decades. But it has been particularly poignant among American teenagers.
Earlier this year, the CDC reported that levels of sadness and hopelessness, levels of violence, and levels of suicide risk have all increased in US teens. The study found that those levels have increased at a higher rate over the last decade—but teenage girls and LGBTQ+ teens have experienced significantly higher rates of each in comparison to other teens.
One thing that is important to note about this study is that, while it was able to prove decreases in teenage mental health, it was not able to show why the decline is happening. Because there are so many factors in our everyday lives that affect us—biological factors, psychological factors, and an abundance of environmental and contextual factors—it’s nearly impossible to prove causation. They all could be affecting us, and in different ways!
Therefore, the question becomes not “if” something is impacting us, but “how much.” This is why I’m interested in figuring out the correlations—factors shown to be connected, but can’t be proven as causal.
At this point, there are only hypotheses and theories. So here are my leading theories (in no particular order) as to why mental health has been in decline, especially for teenagers:
- Climate Crisis: As the earth’s temperature rises, the risk of it becoming sicker, poorer, hungrier, and more dangerous increases—and this leads to hopelessness.
- Gun Violence: Gun-related deaths increased 39% from 2012-2021, and suicide accounts for 57% of all gun-related deaths. In 2022, there were over 600 mass shootings in the US; there is tangible fear of gun violence in schools.
- Rise in Global Tensions: The U.S. has been in active conflict around the world for longer than today’s teenagers have been alive, whether in the Middle East or with countries like Russia, China, and North Korea. Long-term stress is directly correlated with anxiety and depression.
- Political Polarization: A 2022 study found that polarization and anxiety are linked, leading to increased skepticism of others and decreased institutional trust.
- Financial Insecurity: Inflation, cost of living, and debt levels have all increased, but without proportional wage increases. While maybe not at the top of mind for high school freshmen, older teenagers and young adults are hit with the bleak reality that it is harder for them to save, invest, plan for retirement, own a home, and achieve financial independence in comparison to older generations.
- Stress of School: Students feel an increased pressure to succeed (in school, in sports, in college acceptance and post-graduation plans), and an increased fear of “failure.” The deeper “what they do” engrains itself with “who they are,” the more severe the anxiety becomes.
- Technology and Social Media: Comparison is the thief of joy, and comparison is the very foundation for apps like Instagram and TicTok. The more time spent on them, the more self-esteem and mental health decrease. This also means less time in sports, extracurriculars, time outdoors, and interpersonal relationships.
What do you think? What have you noticed? And what initiative will you take to best support the younger people in your life?
The discussion will continue each of the next two Sundays:
- On Sunday, September 24, Sandy Mortensen will be leading a forum on talking with teens about mental health. This will be great for parents, grandparents, and anyone who interacts with teens (AKA all of us!).
- On Sunday, October 1, Marguerite Ohrtman will speak more in-depth about social media and its relationship to and impact on mental health.
I hope you’ll join in these conversations and continue the conversations at home too.
Grace and Peace,
Joe