1) Young people are stressed and therefore also anxious, hopeless, & depressed
Clinicians and teachers say that their students and clients are less hopeful and more stressed than ever before. Regardless of whether this hopelessness is due to the COVID-19 pandemic or other reasons, people are desperately looking for ways to help students stay motivated to achieve goals. Students increasingly view school as irrelevant and unnecessary and feel a sense of hopelessness about the future. Mental Health administrators have noticed increases in youth depression, anxiety, PTSD, and suicide ideation brought on by stress.
New CDC data released at the end of March 2022 reveals that the mental health of young people had declined further during the pandemic:
- More than a third (37%) of high school students said they have experienced poor mental health.
- The percentage of teens reporting feelings of sadness and hopelessness rose to 44.2%.
- Less than half, 47%, of students reported feeling close to others at school.
- During the period covered in the CDC survey, 19.9% o reported having seriously considered attempting suicide. Nine percent reported having attempted it.
- Young people are more worried about their financial futures than any other generation.
2) Adults are experiencing stress, anxiety & sadness too!
APA presented alarming facts about stress that support the notion that stress, anxiety, and sadness have become common:
- 80% of all people have experienced physical symptoms of stress.
- 48% of people have suffered sleep disorders due to prolonged stress.
- 33% of the population considers their stress level extremely high.
- 70% of workers experience stress in their work life to the extent that they feel unhappy about it.
- Economics, politics, and civil unrest have caused a rise in stress and sadness among all generations.
- Millennials are more likely to feel stressed than Gen X (the leading cause being Technology).
- 40 million adults in the U.S. are living with anxiety.
- 1 in 3 of all adolescents ages 13 to 18 experience an anxiety disorder.