US high school students suffering from mental health crisis: CDC survey

Health authorities in the United States have published the results of a new survey, which paints a dismal picture of the mental health status of American high school students, especially teenage girls.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)'s Youth Risk Behavior Survey was published on Monday, offering a map of the teenagers' mental health trajectory from 2011 until 2021.

The data showed how an alarming percentage of the American high school students are grappling with sadness, violence, and trauma, coming up with the overall conclusion that their mental health status is taking a turn for the worse.

"Nearly three in five teenage American girls -- 57 percent -- felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 -- double that of boys," the report said, adding that the figure showed "a nearly 60 percent increase since 2011 and the highest level reported over the past decade."

The CDC added that nearly one in three teenage girls (30 percent) seriously considered attempting suicide during the decade-long period covered by the survey -- up nearly 60 percent from a decade ago, and more than twice the number of boys.

CDC data shows US suicide rate jumped in 2021

CDC says the suicide rate has gone up in the United States in 2021 after two years with a slightly lower level, noting disproportionate increases in suicides among youths and people of color.

The study went on to show that nearly one in five teen girls (18 percent) experienced sexual violence in the past year, up 20 percent since 2017, when the CDC started keeping a record of the measure.

"These data show a distressing picture," the CDC's chief medical officer Debra Houry told reporters, adding, "America's teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence, and trauma."

"Over the past decade, teens, especially girls, have experienced dramatic increases in experiences of violence and poor mental health and suicide risk," Houry noted.

"These data are clear -- our young people are in crisis," said Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC division of adolescent and school health.

"Young people are experiencing a level of distress that calls on us to act with urgency and compassion," Ethier noted.

The CDC officials said many of the measures taken to improve youth mental health had been "moving in the wrong direction" even before the COVID-19 pandemic began in early 2020.

"The social isolation from the pandemic certainly made things worse," Ethier said, adding, "Young people were separated from their peers and from their community and school supports."

Asked what role social media may play on the worsening mental health of US adolescents, Ethier said "social media certainly contributes.

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