CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health(washingtonpost.com)
washingtonpost.com
CDC warns of a steep decline in teen mental health
https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/03/31/student-mental-health-decline-cdc/
497 comments
As a high school teacher(14-18 year olds) who actually spends a lot of time trying to interact with students and get to know them, I keep hearing this kind of statement:
There is no room for mistakes.
Students cannot miss a homework assignment, fail an exam, not achieve an A, make any kind of faux pax on social media, etc…
And then you combine this with many adults in their lives telling them, I got into UCLA, why can’t you? Just work harder, or just not caring about their mental health.
They see this never ending cycle of
turn the assignments in and then go to sports practice(where again the competition is at such a high level) and also, get a job, because they want or need money.
Many are going to bed after midnight every night.
Something has to give.
This is really disturbing to me.
How are they doing living up to this? Many are living up to it but the cost is substantial, and the others that have no hope of being this are giving up.
There is no room for mistakes.
Students cannot miss a homework assignment, fail an exam, not achieve an A, make any kind of faux pax on social media, etc…
And then you combine this with many adults in their lives telling them, I got into UCLA, why can’t you? Just work harder, or just not caring about their mental health.
They see this never ending cycle of
turn the assignments in and then go to sports practice(where again the competition is at such a high level) and also, get a job, because they want or need money.
Many are going to bed after midnight every night.
Something has to give.
This is really disturbing to me.
How are they doing living up to this? Many are living up to it but the cost is substantial, and the others that have no hope of being this are giving up.
I'm not sure the pandemic is solely or even largely responsible.
Zoomers are the first generation with nearly unrestricted access to social media essentially from birth (access that probably should've been restricted early on, but that's water under the bridge). Couple that early and frequent exposure with artificial echo chambers created by apps to boost engagement, and impressionable minds end up soaked in endlessly-amplified negative perspectives.
The test case for this was 4chan incubating incel/redpill culture and Reddit later amplifying it among late-millennials. Today, EDs, ideation of self harm, etc are all mercilessly reflected back at people on just about every social media platform rather than just the niche ones. The pandemic only made it worse by preventing people from spending time with each other in person, but kids are glued to their phones anyway.
$1 Bet: millennial parents will probably learn from this with their own kids. Or if not, legislators probably will. Late Gen-α and the generation that follows will hopefully see a rebound from these trends with parenting habits that benefit from these learnings.
Zoomers are the first generation with nearly unrestricted access to social media essentially from birth (access that probably should've been restricted early on, but that's water under the bridge). Couple that early and frequent exposure with artificial echo chambers created by apps to boost engagement, and impressionable minds end up soaked in endlessly-amplified negative perspectives.
The test case for this was 4chan incubating incel/redpill culture and Reddit later amplifying it among late-millennials. Today, EDs, ideation of self harm, etc are all mercilessly reflected back at people on just about every social media platform rather than just the niche ones. The pandemic only made it worse by preventing people from spending time with each other in person, but kids are glued to their phones anyway.
$1 Bet: millennial parents will probably learn from this with their own kids. Or if not, legislators probably will. Late Gen-α and the generation that follows will hopefully see a rebound from these trends with parenting habits that benefit from these learnings.
The quality of the discussion is in parts abysmal. Assertions are thrown into the world without even mentioning a source.
A substantive discussion is therefore not possible. It is just 'opinion porn' imho.
Regardless of whether the pandemic, social media, (real) porn, industrial food, excessive demands at school, any combination thereof or other anecdotes are used as the cause. Nothing is substantiated by linking sources. Or at least naming them.
Whatever is claimed can only be questioned, not refuted, as there is no substantive point of attack.
Thus, in the end, everyone feels good because they were able to express an opinion. But unfortunately we have learned nothing.
A substantive discussion is therefore not possible. It is just 'opinion porn' imho.
Regardless of whether the pandemic, social media, (real) porn, industrial food, excessive demands at school, any combination thereof or other anecdotes are used as the cause. Nothing is substantiated by linking sources. Or at least naming them.
Whatever is claimed can only be questioned, not refuted, as there is no substantive point of attack.
Thus, in the end, everyone feels good because they were able to express an opinion. But unfortunately we have learned nothing.
This situation if the result of the destruction of the social network of relations due to the modern lifestyle. To have meaningful social relations with our peers is extremely important for humans and even more so for teenagers I guess.
First the modern lifestyle mostly destroyed the small communities where people know each other and spend a lot of time together. People began to stay in their house all the time with no contacts with a community.
At this first stage, as the local community was eliminated, the remaining pillars of social relations were school, for young people, and work for adults. I some case adults were able to maintain some degree of additional social life by having some friends and inviting them regularly to create the opportunity to meet.
Later it come all the smartphones, tablets, computers, social networks that captivated all the attention, especially of young people so even more so people were pushed to stay more at home and meet less people further increasing the social isolation.
The final blow came from the COVID-19 confinement were people were forced to stay at home reducing social contacts only to the close family members. This situation created an unsustainable isolation raising serious mental health problem especially for teenagers but also for adult people.
Modern society got it all wrong. We think having more goods and entertainment to consume make us happier but this is not how it works. Not if the social life and the social network around us is poor or non-existent.
Scientific thought that they know all and can say people what to do and they give us instruction just to avoid that people dies. The problem is that people doesn't just need to stay physically alive, we need to be also happy and fulfilled by our life.
We need to radically change modern lifestyle and stop with all the bullshit coming from politicians.
First the modern lifestyle mostly destroyed the small communities where people know each other and spend a lot of time together. People began to stay in their house all the time with no contacts with a community.
At this first stage, as the local community was eliminated, the remaining pillars of social relations were school, for young people, and work for adults. I some case adults were able to maintain some degree of additional social life by having some friends and inviting them regularly to create the opportunity to meet.
Later it come all the smartphones, tablets, computers, social networks that captivated all the attention, especially of young people so even more so people were pushed to stay more at home and meet less people further increasing the social isolation.
The final blow came from the COVID-19 confinement were people were forced to stay at home reducing social contacts only to the close family members. This situation created an unsustainable isolation raising serious mental health problem especially for teenagers but also for adult people.
Modern society got it all wrong. We think having more goods and entertainment to consume make us happier but this is not how it works. Not if the social life and the social network around us is poor or non-existent.
Scientific thought that they know all and can say people what to do and they give us instruction just to avoid that people dies. The problem is that people doesn't just need to stay physically alive, we need to be also happy and fulfilled by our life.
We need to radically change modern lifestyle and stop with all the bullshit coming from politicians.
Sure the pandemic may have accelerated or been the catalyst, but let's be honest here. TV/Internet/Video game addiction is a serious thing that nobody is paying attention to. I struggled with this personally for the last 25 years of my life and I'm 30. I now have two kids and have to ensure I moderate their usage in responsible ways as they grow up.
I was a generation before the iPad, but the current teenagers struggling have likely had a smart device from as early as 2. My smart device was a TV and nintendo. The guidelines the CDC even has for responsible device usage is reasonable, but nobody follows it. Most people are picking up their devices up to a hundred times a day or every 10 minutes. The average screen time is close to 3 hours. That's an average by the way...
We need to bring awareness to this problem like Nicholas Carr did over a decade ago. We can't let big tech companies convince us this isn't a problem with their sponsored studies to control a narrative.
I was a generation before the iPad, but the current teenagers struggling have likely had a smart device from as early as 2. My smart device was a TV and nintendo. The guidelines the CDC even has for responsible device usage is reasonable, but nobody follows it. Most people are picking up their devices up to a hundred times a day or every 10 minutes. The average screen time is close to 3 hours. That's an average by the way...
We need to bring awareness to this problem like Nicholas Carr did over a decade ago. We can't let big tech companies convince us this isn't a problem with their sponsored studies to control a narrative.
Before 2000 or so, every stupid thing you did as a kid wasn't recorded on a phone or online somewhere permanently that you could forget it.
Maybe at school but bullying wasn't possible 24/7 online like now.
You had no idea what the latest news or political drama was as a kid before 2000 because it wasn't in your hand 12+ hours a day. No twitter/facebook or whatever they are using now.
Now being a kid is as depressing as being an adult and you are wired-in to a world that's overwhelming you. Sure they don't have jobs or rents to pay but everything still feels fatalistic to them, like they can't escape the world defines them, not the other way around.
Maybe at school but bullying wasn't possible 24/7 online like now.
You had no idea what the latest news or political drama was as a kid before 2000 because it wasn't in your hand 12+ hours a day. No twitter/facebook or whatever they are using now.
Now being a kid is as depressing as being an adult and you are wired-in to a world that's overwhelming you. Sure they don't have jobs or rents to pay but everything still feels fatalistic to them, like they can't escape the world defines them, not the other way around.
> Although young people were spared the brunt of the virus — falling ill and dying at much lower rates than older people — they might still pay a steep price for the pandemic, having come of age while weathering isolation, uncertainty, economic turmoil and, for many, grief.
The honest truth that most people don’t want to face is that there is a direct relationship between economic turmoil and mental health. Instead, we will get politicians and community leaders blaming everything else for the problem, when all you have to do to address it is to pay people a living wage and provide an adequate social net to fall back upon. Our leaders will never admit this.
The honest truth that most people don’t want to face is that there is a direct relationship between economic turmoil and mental health. Instead, we will get politicians and community leaders blaming everything else for the problem, when all you have to do to address it is to pay people a living wage and provide an adequate social net to fall back upon. Our leaders will never admit this.
These trends have been happening for decades and it tracks quite well the gradual breakdown of stable family structures. Psychologically for example, kids experience their parent’s divorce as worse than a parent’s death.
This is unsurprising. There are no good prospects — war, climate change, a divided society — in all of this: You, a teen with a digital mirror, that keeps you updated on how much more you seem to suck than all the others you have to compare yourself against. Your parents who constantly tell you your generation has to fix and/or safe the planet, while you wonder if you will even be able to fix and/or safe yourself.
Meanwhile even people who you see as adults have given up of ever being able to retiring, but you know it is quite definitly going to get worse for you.
1) how am I missing the link to the actual CDC study? or did WaPo not even post the link to the survey results they were discussing?
2) disappointing not to see any comparison to other advanced economies. Is this happening everywhere with high internet usage? Did the severity correlate at all to how severe the pandemic was or what the responses were? Does it correlate to income levels or political polarization or religiosity or any of the other things that vary (at least somewhat) between different advanced economies? Maybe the CDC study looked at this, but if so WaPo said nothing about it. Hard to know what to do with this information with nothing but a WaPo text wall talking about it.
2) disappointing not to see any comparison to other advanced economies. Is this happening everywhere with high internet usage? Did the severity correlate at all to how severe the pandemic was or what the responses were? Does it correlate to income levels or political polarization or religiosity or any of the other things that vary (at least somewhat) between different advanced economies? Maybe the CDC study looked at this, but if so WaPo said nothing about it. Hard to know what to do with this information with nothing but a WaPo text wall talking about it.
My wife's a middle school teacher for over 22 years. If you want an unvarnished view into just how bad things have gotten since the pandemic begain--for mental health, school engagement, and all things related--talk to a teacher. It's unprecedented, and the long tail of the damage will take decades to understand.
The data for the CDC Adolescent Behaviors and Experiences Survey (ABES) are here:
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/abes/tables/index.htm
The survey was conducted in the first half of 2021
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/abes/tables/index.htm
The survey was conducted in the first half of 2021
I worry that it is the expected result of taking away hope. Powerful actors try, and have succeeded - with our unwitting help - in spreading a highly reactionary message of despair, disabling those who might challenge their power. You have no power; only the wealthy and large corporations, and all that matters is profit.
Progress; the equal value of individuals from any class, status, ethnicity, gender, etc; the power of any individual to change the world through hard work; - the things humanity has worked for since the beginning of the Enlightenment, with incredible success - are derided, even here in the heart of innovation and entrepreneurialism, which fundamentally depend on those notions. The garages of Silicon Valley defeated IBM.
Younger generations now believe they have no power, that humanity is fundamentally evil and corrupt, that progress isn't possible. Look at climate change: most believe not that, 'the people, united, can never be defeated', but that nothing can be done. We have the tools, the knowledge, the need is clear, but the powerful have created despair. That's not what I grew up with; I grew up with hope, and people who changed the world, from George Washington to Dr King, from Isaac Newton to Albert Einstein, from Edison to Jobs.
Even the left-of-center and many progressives have adopted this message. Somone - that means you - needs to start spreading one of hope. I think they would be incredibly popular.
Progress; the equal value of individuals from any class, status, ethnicity, gender, etc; the power of any individual to change the world through hard work; - the things humanity has worked for since the beginning of the Enlightenment, with incredible success - are derided, even here in the heart of innovation and entrepreneurialism, which fundamentally depend on those notions. The garages of Silicon Valley defeated IBM.
Younger generations now believe they have no power, that humanity is fundamentally evil and corrupt, that progress isn't possible. Look at climate change: most believe not that, 'the people, united, can never be defeated', but that nothing can be done. We have the tools, the knowledge, the need is clear, but the powerful have created despair. That's not what I grew up with; I grew up with hope, and people who changed the world, from George Washington to Dr King, from Isaac Newton to Albert Einstein, from Edison to Jobs.
Even the left-of-center and many progressives have adopted this message. Somone - that means you - needs to start spreading one of hope. I think they would be incredibly popular.
Another factor may be that many people that teens look up to today talk openly about mental health problems, to the point that now it seems almost trendy to struggle with mental health. Perhaps this encourages teens to let their mental health deteriorate for attention, which is the social currency of today’s society. Remember they are not entirely rational beings.
CDC isolates teens for two years, CDC keeps them in fear for two years, and CDC is now surprised.
The entire pandemic felt like screaming in an empty room sometimes.
My wife is a teacher in a low-SES area, and my sister-in-law is a psychologist dealing specifically with at-risk youth.
From the start they could see first-hand the detrimental impact lockdown had on the poorest and most vulnerable.
For many of these kids, school is a sanctuary from a dysfunctional and/or abusive home life. They don't have quiet places to study, let alone the means (laptop, internet).
Just a little example here, based on a close friend's upbringing. A young teen can't sleep because her degenerate father is blasting music from 11PM to 3AM. Fortunately, her grandparents live up the road, and their house has become a bit of a safe-haven. So she runs down there, and gets a good night sleep. When things are tough at home, she knows she can always stay there a few nights.
In lockdown world, that option is totally removed. The father, now out of work, is verbally abusive and blasts music all night. How do you think she's going to fare with "remote learning"?
2 years cut off from their peers, stuck in toxic environments, these kids have come back terribly damaged. My wife says she has never seen so many fights at school. My sister-in-law says they are so short-staffed right now they're having to turf kids because they're not "at-risk" enough.
Of course, politicians kept assuring us this was not the case, that there was no data showing any negative impact. Of course there was no data yet - it was still being collated! But talk to any person on the frontline and they could tell you.
But I suppose politicians' kids go to pretty nice schools, with supportive family environments and the means to support remote learning (laptops, fast internet, a quiet place to study).
A more disconnected, clueless lot, I have never seen.
My wife is a teacher in a low-SES area, and my sister-in-law is a psychologist dealing specifically with at-risk youth.
From the start they could see first-hand the detrimental impact lockdown had on the poorest and most vulnerable.
For many of these kids, school is a sanctuary from a dysfunctional and/or abusive home life. They don't have quiet places to study, let alone the means (laptop, internet).
Just a little example here, based on a close friend's upbringing. A young teen can't sleep because her degenerate father is blasting music from 11PM to 3AM. Fortunately, her grandparents live up the road, and their house has become a bit of a safe-haven. So she runs down there, and gets a good night sleep. When things are tough at home, she knows she can always stay there a few nights.
In lockdown world, that option is totally removed. The father, now out of work, is verbally abusive and blasts music all night. How do you think she's going to fare with "remote learning"?
2 years cut off from their peers, stuck in toxic environments, these kids have come back terribly damaged. My wife says she has never seen so many fights at school. My sister-in-law says they are so short-staffed right now they're having to turf kids because they're not "at-risk" enough.
Of course, politicians kept assuring us this was not the case, that there was no data showing any negative impact. Of course there was no data yet - it was still being collated! But talk to any person on the frontline and they could tell you.
But I suppose politicians' kids go to pretty nice schools, with supportive family environments and the means to support remote learning (laptops, fast internet, a quiet place to study).
A more disconnected, clueless lot, I have never seen.
Global warming
Economic forecasts being shit
Social media
Realizing the injustice in the world and seeing adults do nothing about it
Hyper competitive schooling
Lack of support during the pandemic
Yeah all of this has an impact.
Economic forecasts being shit
Social media
Realizing the injustice in the world and seeing adults do nothing about it
Hyper competitive schooling
Lack of support during the pandemic
Yeah all of this has an impact.
Before you blame circumstances, remember that even people with seemingly perfect lives (money, fame) still suffer. I can think of a wealthy public figure who's full time job was to travel and enjoy great food, yet still abused drugs and committed suicide.
Suffering is part of life. Until recently, poverty, starvation & disease were universal. We certainly have it better than that, even with "social media", "bullying", "college acceptance" threatening teens.
The bigger problem is that we haven't given young people a solid sense of purpose. If their only purpose is money and fame, they will certainly fall apart, even if it goes well. You can never have enough.
No amount of money, anti depressants or therapy will make up for a lack of meaning.
Sure we should work to improve circumstances, but unless we give people a reason to live, it won't matter.
Suffering is part of life. Until recently, poverty, starvation & disease were universal. We certainly have it better than that, even with "social media", "bullying", "college acceptance" threatening teens.
The bigger problem is that we haven't given young people a solid sense of purpose. If their only purpose is money and fame, they will certainly fall apart, even if it goes well. You can never have enough.
No amount of money, anti depressants or therapy will make up for a lack of meaning.
Sure we should work to improve circumstances, but unless we give people a reason to live, it won't matter.
Not like the adults are doing much better.
I am helping a family member recently diagnosed with ADHD during the pandemic. I looked up this google trend and my jaw dropped. Clearly the world has yet to come to terms with the social, emotional and psychological effects of this pandemic. If anyone here knows anything about what's causing the rise in adhd specifically, I'd love to hear about it: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge...
If you really want to see how bad it has gotten, try finding a therapist for a teen. Even in communities where supply is high and demand is (relatively) low, they're all absolutely overwhelmed. When I went looking, ~75% of them were explicitly not taking new clients. Working through the rest, through multiple directories and services, I was denied or simply ghosted ~20 times before I finally found someone. Naturally it was the newest, youngest member of a large practice. She has been great, but the struggle to find her was a real eye opener.
Note the date: "survey of a nationally representative sample of 7,700 teens conducted in the first six months of 2021."
When CDC warns about society as a whole being subjected to total and deliberate menticide and discloses all means towards that end, it is only then that there will finally arrive some substance to discuss.
Otherwise it sounds like researching the swaying of trees without ever mentioning the wind.
Otherwise it sounds like researching the swaying of trees without ever mentioning the wind.
> “When you make schools less toxic for the most vulnerable students, all students benefit — and the converse is also true,” Ethier said.
Who is making schools more toxic for the least vulnerable students? I need a hit, baby, give me it.
Who is making schools more toxic for the least vulnerable students? I need a hit, baby, give me it.
This coincides with about seven months of going back to school.
My kids did so much better when they were not in school. They got plenty of time with other kids, but none of the toxic middle school culture.
My kids did so much better when they were not in school. They got plenty of time with other kids, but none of the toxic middle school culture.
I'm not sure what you expect when you instill constant fear of simply getting sick, take away all of their social structure, and isolate them in front of a screen, all for a virus that doesn't affect kids barely at all. Per the CDC there is a 0.003% chance of someone under age 20 dying from COVID; they have greater risk driving to school.
It's no wonder their mental health is so poor, even if the trend was starting before the pandemic.
It's no wonder their mental health is so poor, even if the trend was starting before the pandemic.
It's not like the CDC wasn't warned that their policies would be harmful. Oh, wait, they were!
Unfortunately, the CDC policies were captive to the teacher's unions, who are anti-child and anti-parent.
https://nypost.com/2021/05/01/teachers-union-collaborated-wi...
Unfortunately, the CDC policies were captive to the teacher's unions, who are anti-child and anti-parent.
https://nypost.com/2021/05/01/teachers-union-collaborated-wi...
As I said to my psychologist at the beginning of the pandemic - what is done to the children as supposed pandemic fighting measures will generate as much work for him for many decades to come as he can take as naturally nobody cares about long term.
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Imagine you spent half the time you were in high school, alone. I cannot imagine any rational person is capable of believing this to not be a major factor to their mental health.
Anecdotally, I am a reasonably strong introvert, and I switched teams at my job during the pandemic after nine months of work from home because it did not feel healthy to my mental state to not have interacted with anyone in so long. I felt that my social abilities had atrophied, and that I had lost sight of a lot of the important things in life that derive from social interaction. I can only imagine that the impact is far greater to someone who can't choose to change their life to obtain the social interaction they are missing, and who (I am generalizing a bit here) probably requires mental/emotional guidance and support from their peers, elders, etc.