Mental Health Issues In America Essay

1 in 5 teens in the United States suffer from a serious mental disorder. According to Livescience, 22.2% of teens are severely impaired or extremely distressed on a daily basis due to the mental disorders that many suffer from. Only 2/3 of those suffering adolescence ever find help. This is the reason that more teens die from suicide than cancer, heart disease, AIDS, birth defects, stroke, pneumonia, influenza, and chronic lung disease, all combined. Unfortunately, the number of teens diagnosed is rapidly growing throughout the U.S and it’s a bigger issue than it’s ever been. What’s causing this growing problem? How can we fix and prevent it?

Within the last 30 years, mental health issues within teens has soared.The Nuffield Foundation says

“The youth labour market has collapsed in recent decades. In the mid 1980s, over 40 per cent of 16-19 year olds were in full time employment. By 2007, this figure was less than 20 per cent.” The family life of adolescents of today differ greatly than the family life of kids 30 years ago. Since then, divorce rates have doubled, more children than ever experience divorce before they reach adulthood - which can result in deep emotional trauma and stress. Also, parents now tend to be more involved in their kids’ lives and more actively parents their children into early adulthood. While these things may play into the high level of mental illness in teens, other theories suggest that it could be a result of high levels of stress that the kids are feeling these days. “Most experts would agree with me that there is more stress today than in previous generations. Stress triggers depression and mood disorders, so