Teen girls, LGBT+ distressing rates of mental health issues

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Around 1 in 3 high school girls in the U.S. have seriously considered attempting suicide, according to new results from a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention survey from 2021, up from less than a fifth of teen girls in 2011. And more than half of teen girls, 57%, reported feeling "persistently sad or hopeless" — a record high number.

By contrast, 14% of high school boys told the 2021 survey that they had seriously considered attempting suicide, up from 13% in 2011.

The statistics are among several mental health trends in high schoolers that have worsened most among girls over the past decade, according to data from the CDC's Youth Risk Behavior Survey published Monday.

Overall, 22% of high schoolers said they have considered suicide. That is somewhat better than the 29% when the CDC first began its biennial survey in the 1990s, but is an increase from the record low 13.8% tallied in 2009.

"While much attention has been given to the youth mental health crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic, YRBS data have shown that many measures were moving in the wrong direction before the pandemic. These data show the mental health crisis among young people continues," Kathleen Ethier, director of the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health, told reporters Monday.

The CDC says gaps persist between boys and girls among several trends.

In the survey, 17% of teen girls say they were bullied at school, compared to 13% of boys; 20% of girls say they were bullied over social media, nearly double the 11% of boys. And 18% of girls say they have faced sexual violence over the past year, versus 5% of boys.

When asked about substance abuse, girls had often ranked better or around the same compared to boys over the past decade.

But as of 2021, teen girls are now more likely than boys to have drunk alcohol (27% of high school girls compared to 19% of high school boys), used marijuana (18% of girls versus 14% of boys), used e-cigarettes (21% of girls versus 15% of boys), or misused prescription opioids (15% of girls versus 10% of boys).

"These data show a distressing picture. America's teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma. Over the past decade, teens, especially girls, have experienced dramatic increases in experiences of violence and poor mental health," the CDC's chief medical officer Dr. Debra Houry said.

The survey also found disparities among students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, questioning or another non-heterosexual identity.

"Close to 70% of LGBQ+ students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness during the past year and more than 50% had poor mental health during the past 30 days. Almost 25% attempted suicide during the past year," the report states. It also notes they are "significantly more likely" than other peers to experience violence.

While many of the trends have substantially worsened over the past decade, the report's authors do point out that a handful of indicators are now moving "in the right direction."

The share of high school students who say they are sexually active or have already had more than four partners has fallen. Just 6% overall have had four or more partners in 2021, down from 15% in 2011.

Several overall rates of substance use have also declined since 2011 among high schoolers.

More results from the CDC's school-based survey are expected to be released in April, which also spans other issues like diet and exercise. A total of 17,508 questionnaires were completed across 152 private and public schools around the country.

I think there is a common factor between this and mass shootings.

And what factor may that be?

Girls by enlarge are not doing the school mass shootings.

Understandably this era of mass shootings is creating a level of fear and anxiety that is unfathomable to somebody from my generation. That does not explain why girls are affected more.

It's strange that a teenager would seriously think about suicide when they know they have yet to leave school and see how they fare in the real world or job market or dating or whatever comes after school.

That's what kept me going then. I saw adults being able to walk the streets being ignored by bullies , so I thought I'd get that anonymity.
Also I had hope of finding a job or possibly meeting someone.

Are girls less likely to have hope like that?

You didn't think hard enough.

I said a common factor. Mental health problems across the society? If I knew exactly what it is, I'd say what it is. But that's as close as I can get.

It's strange that a teenager would seriously think about suicide when they know they have yet to leave school and see how they fare in the real world or job market or dating or whatever comes after school.

That's what kept me going then. I saw adults being able to walk the streets being ignored by bullies , so I thought I'd get that anonymity.
Also I had hope of finding a job or possibly meeting someone.

I did read a lot of stories from people 55 and over talking about how they just go to a business and get hired on the spot.
Even for technical jobs they were allowed to work their way up etc.
They could buy houses easier and dating was easier.
when I was a teen it was hard to get a job also.
The survey is American, where there is a lot more pressure.
So yeah I tried to have hope as a teen but if I had been told what was going to happen over the next 30 years I would be in a similar situation to those in the article.

You are assuming that bullying is the only reason one might lose the will to live.

That would be incorrect.

20% of girls say they were bullied over social media, nearly double the 11% of boys.

Some of the factors that appear to have played into my daughters breakdown roughly 4 years ago:
1. Stress about the direction the world was going in, including:
a. society trending towards a more hostile position towards women and LGBTQ members
b. bleak job prospects for recent graduates, increasing the pressure to out-perform to have a chance
c. increasing difficulty getting into good schools while also feeling it was essential to do so if there is going to be any hope
d. knowing your generation won't have it as good as your parents' did
e. climate change
f. the ever present threat of being a mass-shooting victim (she has spent her entire life learning lock down drills and hearing of kids shot at school; can you imagine what that has done to these kids, especially ones with tendencies towards anxiety???)

Girls, in particular, seem to feel increasing stress to be "perfect" in order to have a decent future. They've gotten a lot of messages over the years about having to be better than the competition to have a chance, etc. It seems to have permeated society most of their formative years. That plus the chance of being killed by a mass shooter. Perfectionism and anxiety are rampant in teen girls. It's exhausting and overwhelming for them. There is no way out in their eyes; everyone older had it better, without all the same obstacles, so there is no one to look at or believe for evidence it doesn't have to feel that way.