Teens

It has been estimated that 1 in 7 adolescents struggle with mental health issues. According to the CDC, 1 in 3 High School students experienced persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness in 2019, with 1 in 6 youth reported making a suicide plan. Compared to 2009, This amounts to a 40% and 44% increase, respectively. The numbers have only increased exponentially as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Self-Harm, or “cutting” has been on the rise in recent years. Adolescents self-harm for multiple reasons. Every case is as unique as the individual. Reasons for self-harm include relief from unpleasant emotions, to serve as a distraction from current life circumstances, and as a means of punishing oneself for perceived wrongdoing. Regardless of the why, self-harm ultimately serves as an expression of emotional pain for teenagers who are unable to understand and express what they are feeling and experiencing. It is important to understand that self-harm is addictive. Self-harm must be treated as any other addiction. The unhealthy coping mechanism has to be replaced with healthy coping habits. In order to get to the root of the problem, adolescents need to be instructed how to put a language to their pain. Another aspect of adolescent mental health worth considering is the connection between adolescent depression and social media exposure. Teenage social media use is positively correlated with depression and self-harm. In other words, the more a teenager uses social media, the more likely they are to be depressed and engage in self-harm. A recent study from the university of Pennsylvania showed that students that limited their social media use to 30 minutes or less per day experienced significant improvement in their emotional well-being and decreased feelings of depression and loneliness.