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CHECK YOURSELF BEFORE YOU RECK YOURSELF

By: Madison France

One of the major problems for our generation today is the weakness of our mental health. The newest generation are the leaders of our future, we wont have any if they don't get help now.



"Suicide is the fourth leading cause of death in older adolescents (15-19 years)(2). Risk factors for suicide are multifaceted, and include harmful use of alcohol, abuse in childhood, stigma against help-seeking, barriers to accessing care and access to means of suicide. Digital media, like any other media, can play a significant role in either enhancing or weakening suicide prevention efforts." The world health organization


"According to the new data, in 2021, more than a third (37%) of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and 44% reported they persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year. The new analyses also describe some of the severe challenges youth encountered during the pandemic:


More than half (55%) reported they experienced emotional abuse by a parent or other adult in the home, including swearing at, insulting, or putting down the student.

11% experienced physical abuse by a parent or other adult in the home, including hitting, beating, kicking, or physically hurting the student.

More than a quarter (29%) reported a parent or other adult in their home lost a job.

Before the pandemic, mental health was getting worse among high school students, according to prior CDC data" According to CDC




"Even before the onset of the pandemic, researchers documented a rise in recent years of poor mental health outcomes among adolescents, including persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness or suicidal thoughts. According to a KFF analysis of data from the National Survey on Children’s Health, in 2018 and 2019, 7% of high school students (1.8 million) had depression and 13% (3.1 million) had anxiety. In addition, suicide was the second leading cause of death among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, accounting for 1580 deaths, and nearly 1 in 5 (19%) had serious thoughts of suicide in 2019, up from 14% in 2009.


Shortly after the pandemic began, the KFF brief explains, more than 1 in 4 high school students reported worsened emotional and cognitive health, and in a more recent survey, only one-third said they were able to cope with such sources of stress as strained mental health and peer relationships.


Private insurance claims show that in 2020, even though the number of all health care claims for 13- to 18-year-olds was lower than in 2019, mental health–related claims for teens—including such diagnoses as depression, anxiety, and adjustment disorder—increased dramatically. In addition, claims for substance use disorders and overdoses increased as a proportion of all medical claims for 13- to 18-year-olds during 2020." According to Jama Health Forum



"Youth with mental health disorders are more likely to be unhappy at school, be absent, or be suspended or expelled. Their learning is negatively impacted because of poor concentration, distractibility, inability to retain information, poor peer relationships, and aggressive behavior. They also may be withdrawn and difficult to engage.


During any given school year, children and youth with mental health disorders may miss as many as 18 to 22 days.

The rates of suspension and expulsion of children and youth with mental disorders are three times higher than their peers." According to Youth.gov


"Youth with mental health disorders are more likely to be unhappy at school, be absent, or be suspended or expelled. Their learning is negatively impacted because of poor concentration, distractibility, inability to retain information, poor peer relationships, and aggressive behavior. They also may be withdrawn and difficult to engage.

  • During any given school year, children and youth with mental health disorders may miss as many as 18 to 22 days.

  • The rates of suspension and expulsion of children and youth with mental disorders are three times higher than their peers." According to the CDC

"Youth in high school with mental health disorders are more likely to fail or drop out of school compared to their peers in the general population. They tend to engage in high-risk behaviors including drug and alcohol use and/or suicide attempts, especially those youth who may be significantly depressed because they are shunned or marginalized.


Up to 14 percent of youth with mental health disorders receive mostly Ds and Fs, compared to 7 percent for all children with disabilities.3

Youth with untreated mental illness have high rates of absenteeism and tardiness. Referral to a school-based mental health center or to counseling can help to reduce absenteeism rates by 50 percent and tardiness rates by 25 percent.4

Of students with disabilities in the special education system, those with emotional disorders consistently have the lowest graduation rates and highest dropout rates compared to other disability categories.5 In 2005-2006, 45 percent of students between the ages of 14 and 21 that had received special education services for an emotional disorder under IDEA Part B dropped out.

Only 32 percent of students with a serious mental illness continue onto postsecondary education." According to the CDC



"Many risk-taking behaviours for health, such as substance use or sexual risk-taking, start during adolescence. Risk-taking behaviours can be an unhelpful strategy to cope with emotional difficulties and can severely impact an adolescent’s mental and physical well-being.

Worldwide, the prevalence of heavy episodic drinking among adolescents aged 15­-19 years was 13.6% in 2016, with males most at risk.

The use of tobacco and cannabis are additional concerns. Many adult smokers had their first cigarette prior to the age of 18 years. Cannabis is the most widely used drug among young people with about 4.7% of 15-16 years-olds using it at least once in 2018.

Perpetration of violence is a risk-taking behavior that can increase the likelihood of low educational attainment, injury, involvement with crime or death. Interpersonal violence was ranked among the leading causes of death of older adolescent boys in 2019." According to the WHO


"“One of the biggest problems is that young people aren’t getting the mental health treatment they need early on. This lack of early intervention means that mental health continues to deteriorate until a young person ends up in the emergency room or on a psychiatric inpatient unit,” said Dr. Jack Turban, Assistant Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at The University of California San Francisco and Affiliate Faculty at the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies.


Turban, who was not affiliated with the recent report, told Healthline we currently have a “major shortage of pediatric mental health providers.”


“To make matters worse, low reimbursement rates from insurance companies for mental health treatment mean that many of the providers who are available do not take insurance. Pediatric mental healthcare is not affordable without using insurance, meaning that many go without care,” Turban said.


He stressed that it is all too common to hear from families of these young people that they often call “every listed in-network” pediatric mental health provider under their insurance plan, only to be told that none of them are taking on new patients." According to Healthine.com



“The Covid-19 pandemic exposed the extent and severity of the mental health crisis on racial and ethnic minority, sexual and gender minority, and marginalized young people,” US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy wrote in a recent public health report. “Experiences of trauma and marginalization, among other factors, can place these young people at heightened risk for mental health difficulties later in life, too.”


The new CDC study was based on responses from more than 4,000 high school students to the 2021 Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey. It does not capture all factors affecting adolescent mental health or suicidal behaviors and does not assess lifetime exposure to the specific adverse childhood events included." According to CNN.com




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