New CDC data shows 3 in 5 teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 — double that of boys and the highest rate reported in a decade. (© Alberto - stock.adobe.com)

While America’s teens were already struggling before the pandemic, new data reveals rates of sadness and hopelessness are rising to historic levels — especially among girls and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual or questioning.

According to a recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Youth Risk Behavior Survey, 3 in 5 teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 — double that of boys and the highest rate reported in a decade. Life was harder for LGBQ+ youth on almost every measure of the survey.

Adults have no shortage of theories on what’s causing the crisis, from family issues to academic pressures to social media use. But America’s teens are clear on at least one component: What they need most is each other.

After all, today’s teens are growing up in a different world than older generations — one greatly impacted by factors such the global pandemic, gun violence, climate change, social justice movements and pervasive social media.

“Ultimately, there is this age solidarity among young people in understanding a lot of the shared experiences that we all go through,” says Crystal Widado, a senior at Glendora High School in Southern California.

In middle school, Widado endured racist and homophobic bullying that led to suicidal ideation. “I was dialing the hotline once a week because I didn't really have anyone to talk to about what I was going through,” Widado said.

Today, Widado helps other teens as a mental health advocate.

“Something that gives me a lot of hope is the emergence of peer support,” says Widado. “Teens are the most likely to talk to each other.”

Luna McNeff Yee understands the need for peer support firsthand: The 18-year-old high school senior is a volunteer and trainer for Teen Line, a national peer support hotline that connects youth with professionally trained and supervised teen counselors. In 2022, Teen Line volunteers responded to more than 6,500 calls, texts and emails from their peers.

“There are a lot of new struggles that teens are going through and they don't necessarily know where to get support,” says McNeff Yee. Since the pandemic, the Teen Line has received more calls from younger teens and more calls that are life-threatening crisis situations, she says.

But it’s not just teen girls who are struggling, says Emma-Lee Furrowh, a senior at Hampton University and a Youth Advisory Board Member for the Steve Fund. Males may just be less likely to report mental health struggles, she says.

“In the male community, I think that needing help can be seen as a sign of weakness, especially among young Black men,” she adds.

That’s why young men of color are speaking up about mental health through the Strength in Sharing Project to help others find help and healing.

From left to right: Crystal Widado, Luna McNeff Yee and Emma-Lee Furrowh. (Photos courtesy of each individual)

Early interventions

With two teenage girls in college and high school, Cara McNulty, president of Behavioral Health & Mental Well-being at CVS Health, understands the importance of teens supporting one another.

“Parenting is so humbling,” she says, recalling a time early in the pandemic when she checked in on her own daughters who were both then studying at home.

“If there weren't two of us at home, this would be absolutely miserable” McNulty recalls one of her daughters saying, “because we can at least remind each other that we're not alone.”

Pictured: Cara McNulty, president of Behavioral Health & Mental Well-being at CVS Health, and her two daughters. (Photo courtesy of Cara McNulty)

Parents can’t relate in the same way as a sibling in their age range, her daughter added. But it does help if they listen.

In her work at CVS Health, McNulty also sees a rise in teens’ rates of anxiety, depression, self-harming behavior and suicide attempts. “It’s one of the reasons we’ve made a concerted and very deep investment in our focus on adolescents,” she says. “We really know that we can do something about it.”

CVS Health believes that most of the time, suicide is preventable, and established a goal in 2021 to reduce suicide attempts amongst its Aetna members by 20% by 2025, McNulty says.

For adolescents, those efforts include universal screenings, increasing resources toward youth populations and using data insights to catch warning signs.

The company also offers mental health training to primary care providers and partners with adolescent-specific mental health provider systems like Vida Health and Oui Therapeutics to provide access to Youth Nominated Support Teams. Resource guides on mental health for young adults, parents/caregivers and LGBTQ+ youth are also available on the CVS Health website.

“While we haven’t yet seen an overall reduction compared to our 2019 baseline, we have seen a reduction of suicide attempts in our adolescent population of 13.5% from 2021-2022,” McNulty says.

A love-hate connection

Teen mental health also includes a complicated relationship with social media.

“What’s unique about social media is how pervasive it is in teens’ lives,” says McNeff Yee, citing a constant, underlying level of stress.

Pictured: Andrea Harrison, vice president for Beauty & Personal Care, CVS Health, and her two daughters. (Photo courtesy of Andrea Harrison)

Social media can also promote unrealistic beauty imagery that can create a confidence crisis in teens — especially given the rising use of filters to alter images, says Andrea Harrison, vice president for Beauty & Personal Care, CVS Health.

Launched in 2018, the CVS Health Beauty Mark commitment promises to not alter images (including a person’s shape, size or skin color) created for its stores, websites and marketing materials.

As CVS Health's Beauty Mark initiative marks its fifth anniversary, the company continues to address the negative impacts these unrealistic standards can have by focusing on social media’s impact on mental health.

“The beauty business is so deeply connected to confidence, and confidence is such a key part of mental health,” Harrison says.

For Harrison, who has two daughters ages 10 and 13, the stakes are also personal. Harrison’s oldest daughter often communicates with friends through video chats, creating a constant online presence.

“We (at CVS) are trying to create a universe where the imagery that is out in the world helps people understand what's real,” she says. “It allows them to see others as they are and feel as though they have a community out there beyond themselves.”

If you or someone you know needs help right now: Text or call 988 to connect with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline for a free confidential conversation with a trained counselor 24/7, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting "HOME" to 741-741.

Produced by AP Content Services, the paid content service of The Associated Press. The AP news staff was not involved in the creation of this content.

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What America’s teens need most? Each other.