Content area
Full text
Based on 2021 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data, more than 30% of US adolescents experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although availability of recent global data Is limited, according to data collected as part of the Institute of Health Metric's 2019 Global Burden of Disease study, one of seven adolescents aged 10 to 19 years experienced a mental health condition worldwide (https://ghdx.healthdata, org). Depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders account for the majority of adolescents' mental health burden and can negatively Influence Individual as well as collective health and well-being during this crucial period of development. Yet, Implementation of effective policies and programs to prevent mental health burdens and to support those experiencing mental health conditions is uneven at best and wholly absent at worst. In addition, suicide is the fourth leading cause of death among adolescents and young adults aged 15 to 29 years worldwide. What these overall prevalence estimates mask are variations across countries, particularly variations driven by differences in data quality, availability of treatment services, and importantly, knowledge about mental health burdens and stigma associated with mental health Illness.
Moreover, as we emerge from the social and physical distancing required during the COVID-19 pandemic, we also emerge Into an era when the social Isolation experienced by adolescents during the pandemic is compounded by growing fears and anxieties. Experiencing and even observing the growing burden of political, social, economic, and environmental adversities-such as an increasing number of political and military conflicts worldwide, forced migration, gun violence, restrictions on sexual and reproductive rights, Increasing homophobia and transphobia, greater economic instability, and worsening climate crises-are strong social and structural drivers of mental health burdens among adolescents. Among adolescent girls of color and those who Identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, queer, and nonbinary, these adversities can be exacerbated by experiences of racism, discrimination, stigma, bullying, and adverse childhood events that amplify their risk of experiencing mental health burdens.
In this Public Health of...