Teens and mental health: the struggle is very real, a new CDC report shows

A new government report shows the struggles today’s teens are having with their mental health.

More than 40% of high school students reported feeling too sad or hopeless to participate in their regular activities for at least two weeks, according to the Center for Disease Control’s “Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data Summary & Trends Report: 2011-2021.”

More youth also “seriously considered suicide, made a suicide plan and attempted suicide,” according to the CDC. Girls also appeared to struggle with their mental health more than boys, according to the report.

[ COVID-19 didn’t leave kids unscathed ]

April A. Balzhiser, program director and director of clinical services at Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital in New Lenox, said girls aren’t necessarily struggling more than boys. Society simply allows girls to share their emotions.

“We’ve always told boys, ‘Don’t cry,” Balzhiser said. “If a boy falls down at the park, we say, ‘Get up. Shake it off. You’re fine.’ If a girl falls and cries, we console her. … If we continue to keep the focus on girls, I’m afraid boys will get more marginalized, and their emotional needs will be pushed to the side.”

—  “We’ve always told boys, ‘Don’t cry,” Balzhiser said. “If a boy falls down at the park, we say, ‘Get up. Shake it off. You’re fine.’ If a girl falls and cries, we console her.” April A. Balzhiser, program director and director of clinical services at Silver Oaks Behavioral Hospital in New Lenox

Jessica Butts, a licensed clinical social worker at Linden Oaks Behavioral Health in Naperville, agreed.

“We probably do see more females than males in treatment,” Butts said. “Girls are more open about their feelings whereas boys may be more guarded. It may be seen as a bit more socially acceptable to talk about feelings as a female. But again, that’s not surprising.”

Balzhiser said the number of adolescents Silver Oaks serves hasn’t really changed – but the acuity is greater. Balzhiser is noticing more psychosis, which is often substance-induced, and more suicide plans with more intent behind those plays, Balzhiser said.

Previously, providers saw kids who were sad but who received help before they tried suicide, she said.

“By the time we do see them through our door, the crisis is very acute,” Balzhiser said.

Parents don’t always notice, either, she said. The uncertainty of COVID-19 pandemic and the lack of in-person connections affected adults’ mental health, too, so they often missed their children’s struggles, she said.

“Then we’re seeing the symptoms in the kids when it’s literally not manageable anymore,” Balzhiser said.

[ The pandemic was a lonely time for kids ]

Butts said less “high quality” face-to-face interaction may lead to more loneliness, a risk factor for depression.

“With online interactions, they can be more superficial,” Butts said. “And it may be harder to read people’s social cues and the message they’re trying to send.”

Balzhiser said she’s glad to see national campaigns about the importance of mental health and hopes people will soon understand that caring for mental health is just as important as caring for physical health.

Slim access to help

Awareness, however, doesn’t guarantee access to help.

Butts said demand is still high for in-patient treatment and many therapists’ schedules – and wait lists – are full. People resort to calling around and being added to several different wait lists, she said.

People seeking out treatment should be flexible with their availability, especially since “everyone wants evenings,” especially families, Butts said.

Quick tip: Ask practices if they have interns or doctoral students.

“That can be a great ay to getting help from someone who is under a lot of supervision and learning as they go,” Butts said.

Schools to the rescue

Even before the pandemic, District 202 noticed a huge increase in socio-emotional needs of its students and offered programs and resources to address them, Timothy Albores, director of student services for high school and ED/alternative programs at District 202 in Plainfield, said in a 2022 Herald-News story.

Programs included summer therapy groups and onsite counseling through Hartgrove Behavioral Health, text support, a social emotional support line and the ReferralGPS Counseling Resource Tool to help connect families to treatment options.

District 202 also partnered with Elyssa’s Mission to help students in sixth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades recognize the signs their peers might commit suicide, Albores said in 2022.

Albores said in 2022 that technology, suicide and lack of proper nutrition and sleep can all impact children’s mental health, even before the pandemic.

In 2021, Troy Community School District 30-C and Valley View Community Unit School District 365U collaborated with CareSolace to help their school communities locate mental health services.

Students take the lead

At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, Kailee O’Sullivan, 16, a junior at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox, started a mental health club primarily for athletes with the help of Jeremiah Jobe, a football coach, social worker and Providence alumnus.

Although students of all genders, athletes and non-athletes, can benefit from the club, O’Sullivan felt boys especially needed the support.

“They can’t cry. They can’t have emotions,” O’Sullivan said in a 2022 Herald-News story. “A lot of people come to school and put this fake face on. When they’re struggling, no one call tell. They don’t talk about it.”

At Wilmot Elementary School in Deerfield, Mason Tepper, 11, created his own mental health resource for students with the help of his parents.

Mason’s father, Dr. Joshua A. Tepper, is a vascular and interventional radiologist at Ascension Saint Joseph – Joliet. Dr. Tepper is concerned about the mental health of students, including student athletes, since both his sons play “high level sports,” he said.

Mason Tepper said the Highland Park shootings troubled him, as did the suicide of an eighth grader in his neighborhood. One night in bed, the phrase “Worry Free Wednesday” popped into his head.

This led Mason to develop boxes for his school where students could, on Wednesdays, anonymously jot down worries and then drop them into the box, where they are ultimately shredded to lessen their worries even more, Mason said.

“We just want people to feel comfortable,” Mason Tepper said.

[ Showing kids how to talk about feelings is a good first step toward protecting their mental health. ]

Mason Tepper also is selling Worry Free Wednesday shirts and donating the money to The Balance Project, an organization that supports mental and emotional wellness. He’s raised $1,000 so far, Dr. Tepper said.

The idea in all cases is to keep awareness raised and the conversation flowing, Dr. Tepper said. He’s encouraged that athletes are sharing their sports performance anxieties and how they deal with them.

Dr. Tepper hopes this will encourage boys and girls to share concerns, discern how much anxiety is normal and when to seek help, he said. The goal is to prevent anxiety from becoming so overpowering it outweighs the benefit of the sport, he said.

“It worries me when these kids feel pressure and anxiety and they’re not sure how to talk to someone or feel confident speaking about it,” Dr. Tepper said.

More awareness, less stigma

Heidi Serena of Plainfield said when she was training for her ICF Life Coaching certification, she coached young professional women from across the U.S. and across may different professions: a teacher questioning her career choice, a realtor starting her career and a future lawyer studying for the bar exam.

Each one struggled with stress and anxiety – and each one addressed it, without shame and with confidence, Serena said.

“What impressed me most about these women, they all took care of their mental health,” Serena said in an email. “They shared without hesitation that they each had a therapist to help them deal with anxiety and stress. … They have someone to help them through stressful times and wanted a life coach to help them make a plan in life moving forward. We have really come a long way.”

AT A GLANCE

•Just because girls talk more freely about their mental health struggles doesn’t mean boys aren’t struggling.

• Teens’ mental health challenges are more acute by the time they seek help.

• Parents are often the last to know their teens are struggling because they are struggling, too.

• Therapists often have waiting lists – but schools are offering resources to help families find help.

• Young people are helping to reduce mental health stigma by speaking up more.