CI Staff Member Erinn Duprey contributes to article on teen mental health
CI Research Scientist Erinn Duprey, Ph.D., has contributed to an article published by Public Good News. The article discusses how parents and caregivers of teens can recognize a mental health crisis and provide support. Read the full article below!
How to know if your teen is experiencing a mental health crisis
The United States is experiencing a youth mental health crisis: A 2023 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that four in 10 high school students reported experiencing persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness. Two in 10 youths reported that they seriously considered attempting suicide in the same year.
The numbers are worse for female and LGBTQ+ students: The survey found that they were more likely to experience poor mental health, persistent sadness or hopelessness, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors.
Between 2013 and 2023, data showed overall worsening mental health and increased suicidal thoughts and behaviors among teens. However, the 2023 survey revealed improvements in the number of high school students who experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness since 2021.
Some reasons for the decline in mental health among young people over the last decade include disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic and social media use, says Dr. Richard J. Chung, attending physician and senior medical director at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
But there is hope: Despite the crisis, there are also “more and more options for support and treatment, as long as the issues are identified and addressed proactively,” adds Chung.
Additionally, “teens are resilient and can recover from adversities they experience,” says Erinn Duprey, PhD, research scientist at the University of Rochester’s Children’s Institute and Mt. Hope Family Center. “There are many ‘protective factors’ that contribute to resilience: [One of them] is having a positive parent-child relationship.”
If you’re the parent or caregiver of a teen, you may be wondering how to recognize a mental health crisis, how to foster mental health in your home, and what to do if your child experiences a crisis. Read on to get answers to some of these common questions.
How can caregivers stay on top of their teen’s mental health?
Be present
Parents and caregivers play an important role in their teenager’s life and mental health. “Very often, parents start to assume that the teen’s friends or social media or these other factors are more important than the parent,” says Chung.
“What we know from actual research studies is that parents remain the most important factor in terms of guiding how their teens are navigating the world, how they’re thinking about things, and the decisions that they make.”
Chung says it’s important for caregivers to look at their own relationship with mental health and how they navigate mental health issues. According to Chung, parents' beliefs and bias toward mental health issues can influence whether their teens get help.
For instance, he adds, it’s important for parents to talk about mental health and not project their own experiences onto a child.
Check in
Consistently communicating with your teenager and cultivating a strong relationship with them is key, according to both Chung and Duprey. For example, they recommend you develop trust and establish regular check-ins.
“Given the busyness of this time of life, it’s not uncommon for teens and their parents to not actually communicate in a genuine way for even days and weeks at a time,” says Chung. “So, it’s really important for [communicating] to not be something that just kind of happens once in a while but happens on purpose and in sort of a structured and planned way.”
Be informed
Duprey also recommends you are informed about mental health first aid (a training to help someone in a mental health crisis) and also help your teenager “establish habits that can help improve their mental health, like daily exercise or journaling.”
How do I know if my child is experiencing a mental health crisis?
According to Chung, it’s important for parents to be observant. Beyond looking for more obvious signs like sadness or nervousness, he recommends parents “observe their day-to-day functioning” for any interruptions in a teenager’s daily activities.
“When we think about a teenager, just based on common aspects of teen life, those functions include being a student, or being a friend in relationships, or being a team member on sports teams, or contributing to other activities. Whatever it might be, these [are the] sorts of day-to-day functions that a teen might play in their life,” Chung adds.
“Observing, over time, whether those [functions] are falling away or if they’re struggling in certain respects could be a clue,” he says.
Some common signs of a mental health crisis include:
- Changes in sleep patterns, weight, and eating habits
- Loss of interest in the activities teens usually enjoy
- Signs of self-harm, including cuts, bruises, and burns
- Unusual academic struggles
- Signs of substance use (including drugs or alcohol)
- Extreme panic
- Excessive worry
Read more about these warning signs.
What are some of the most common mental health conditions a teen can experience?
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, some of the most common mental health conditions among teens include:
- Depression, which can lead to self-harm and suicidal thoughts and behaviors
- Anxiety disorders
- Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)
- Eating disorders
What should I do if my child experiences a crisis?
If you’re concerned about your child’s health and safety, take them to an emergency room or behavioral crisis center.
“It’s always best to overreact to some of those things than to under react,” Chung notes.
Caregivers can also call the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. (Find more resources here.)
If your child is struggling with their mental health, but they’re not experiencing a crisis or emergency, contact their primary care provider, pediatrician, or family care doctor.
Contact “someone who knows your teenager well,” Chung adds. “They can make an assessment, and then, importantly, they can also link you to any additional resources you might need beyond the primary care setting.”
Duprey adds that “parents should also be aware of access to means of self-harm—particularly firearms in the household.” Having access to firearms at home is one of the biggest risk factors for suicide.
Find out more about the teen mental health crisis and what you can do as a parent.
If you or anyone you know is considering suicide or self-harm or is anxious, depressed, emotionally distressed, or needs someone to talk to, call the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or text the Crisis Text Line at 741-741. For international resources, here is a good place to begin.
This article first appeared on Public Good News and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
