US high school students suffering from mental health crisis: CDC survey

Health authorities in the United States have published the results of a new survey, which paints a dismal picture of the mental health status of American high school students, especially teenage girls.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey was published on Monday, offering a map of the teenagers’ mental health trajectory from 2011 until 2021.

The data showed how an alarming percentage of American high school students are grappling with sadness, violence, and trauma, coming up with the overall conclusion that their mental health status is taking a turn for the worse.

“Nearly three in five teenage American girls — 57 percent — felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021 — double that of boys,” the report said, adding that the figure showed “a nearly 60 percent increase since 2011 and the highest level reported over the past decade.”

The CDC added that nearly one in three teenage girls (30 percent) seriously considered attempting suicide during the decade-long period covered by the survey — up nearly 60 percent from a decade ago, and more than twice the number of boys.

The study went on to show that nearly one in five teen girls (18 percent) experienced sexual violence in the past year, up 20 percent since 2017, when the CDC started keeping a record of the measure.