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<\/p>\nLet\u2019s play a word-association game. If I say \u201cyouth mental health,\u201d what\u2019s the next word that comes to mind? <\/p>\n
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It\u2019s probably \u201ccrisis.\u201d <\/p>\n
For over a decade, researchers, policymakers, teachers, parents, and the media have been raising the alarm about the rising prevalence of anxiety, depression, and emotional distress among young people. Most alarmingly, the suicide rate among people aged 10\u201324 jumped 62% from 2007 through 2021<\/a>, after remaining stable for a half-decade before that. <\/p>\n \t\tAdvertisement \t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n \t\t<\/p>\n Keep Up with the GGSC Happiness Calendar<\/p>\n Make the world a little better this month<\/p>\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n The American Academy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and Children\u2019s Hospital Association jointly declared a national emergency in child and adolescent mental health in 2021<\/a>. The U.S. Surgeon General issued a youth mental health advisory in 2021<\/a> and a second, specifically on social media, in 2023<\/a>. <\/p>\n Technology use<\/a> and the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a> have both been identified as major vectors exacerbating the crisis globally. I myself published books about each of these phenomena and their negative impact on youth well-being, and I am now writing about a third factor that, research says, hurts youth mental health: climate change. <\/p>\n But more recently, things have been looking up in many ways. And while there are certainly still disparities and major gaps to be addressed, the incipient positive turn in youth well-being is not receiving the same amount of attention as the negative trendlines before it. Experts in the field say that\u2019s a growing problem, because if you don\u2019t focus on the areas of improvement, you may miss what\u2019s causing them and how to build on that success.<\/p>\n More youth are flourishing<\/p>\n \u201cThere seems to be this reflex to talk about the crisis and play up the numbers,\u201d says Daniel Eisenberg at UCLA. He is a principal investigator of the Healthy Minds Network (HMN) for Research on Adolescent and Young Adult Mental Health. The network administers a national survey study of college student mental health and related factors. <\/p>\n Their most recent data show a two-year uptick in college students who are flourishing, for the first time since 2012. And that\u2019s not the only bright spot. Eisenberg says:<\/p>\n Recent data from a variety of sources, not just ours, suggest that young adults and adolescents are reporting a little bit less distress compared to previous years. There\u2019s less loneliness. Suicidal ideation and severe anxiety seem to be declining. Everything is moving together as you might expect.<\/p>\n Even suicides have ticked down slightly. Suicide rates fell 0.66% from 2022 to 2023 among people aged 15\u201324, with a bigger, 2.5% drop for 25\u201334 year olds. <\/p>\n Some of the improvements may be from the increase in attention, funding, and resources in response to the crisis. Eisenberg says that there is an uptick in young people using apps and telehealth to support their well-being. As one example, peer-reviewed data from users of the Roadmap mHealth App<\/a>, a mental health app, published in January 2025, showed significant decreases in depression, anxiety, and loneliness and an increase in \u201cflourishing\u201d between 2020 and 2022. <\/p>\n The improvement may also signal a rebound from the depths of the pandemic itself. Highlighting resilience<\/p>\n There\u2019s also many positive recent survey results that highlight the general resilience of young people. <\/p>\n Surgo Health\u2019s Youth Mental Health Tracker<\/a>, published in December 2024 with responses from 4,500 youth, had four in five reporting being satisfied with life, happy, and feeling that what they do in life is meaningful. <\/p>\n In a national HopeLab survey released in July 2025<\/a>, 55% rated their mental health as \u201cgood,\u201d \u201cvery good,\u201d or \u201cexcellent,\u201d and 57% expressed optimism about their own futures, even though they had significant worries about the future of the country and the world. Hearteningly, 70% said they have \u201cpeople in my life who really care about me.\u201d <\/p>\n
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The Center for Collegiate Mental Health reported students\u2019 academic distress peaked following the beginning of COVID-19 and declined each of the past three years<\/a>, returning eventually to pre-pandemic levels. Students\u2019 self-reported frustration levels in that study have also shown a gradual decline from 2010 to 2024.<\/p>\n