By Rebecca Ruiz, Mashable, March 23, 2019.
Teens don't need to read the headlines to know that they and too many of their peers are feeling lonely, sad, anxious, and suicidal. Recent headlines, however, confirm what's happening in their lives.
This week, a Pediatrics study documented a 28 percent increase in psychiatric visits to the emergency room for American youth. The research, which looked at survey data collected between 2011 and 2015, found even higher rates of increased visits for adolescents and African American and Hispanic youth. The rate of suicide-related visits more than doubled.
"This study unmistakably reveals that adolescents are a population with urgent mental health needs," the study's authors wrote.
Meanwhile, new research also published this week used survey data to reveal a "steady rise" in youth rates of mood disorders and suicidal thoughts and behaviors between 2005 and 2017.
Yet many young people grappling with psychological distress or mental illness are hesitant to tell someone who could help them. Instead, they may look for answers online, where Google searches can lead them to both information about effective treatment and therapy and to misleading or bad advice.
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