The Post-Pandemic Teen Mental Health Crisis : 1A : NPR
Students return to in-person learning at St. Anthony Catholic High School during the pandemic in…
Students return to in-person learning at St. Anthony Catholic High School during the pandemic in Long Beach, California.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
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PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
Students return to in-person learning at St. Anthony Catholic High School during the pandemic in Long Beach, California.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
In the wake of the pandemic, many people are struggling with their mental health regardless of their age.
But recently published data from the CDC is shedding light on how teens are faring.
The numbers show that 4 in 10 U.S. high schoolers experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021. Nearly a quarter seriously considered attempting suicide.
Teen girls and LGBTQ youth are struggling the most, with the highest rates of sadness recorded by the CDC in a decade.
How can parents help their teens navigate this tumultuous developmental period? How should we be thinking about adolescent mental health in the years after the pandemic?
We speak with Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist and author of “The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents”, and Dr. Victor Fornari, vice chair of child and adolescent psychiatry for Northwell Health.
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