How can 1/3 teen girls be suicidal?
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Anonymous
Very true - and I believe it is worse with social media as photos and online shaming are often involved. Will look for recent story in WP about a Potomac teen who started asking other teens about their traumas and was staggered by the high level of sexual assaults experienced by teen girls. |
Anonymous
The crisis in American girlhood Stark findings on the pervasive sadness, suicidal thoughts and sexual violence endured by teen girls have jolted parents and the wider public https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2023/02/17/teen-girls-mental-health-crisis/ By Donna St. George, Katherine Reynolds Lewis and Lindsey Bever February 17, 2023 at 6:00 a.m. ET When Sophie Nystuen created a website for teens who had experienced trauma, her idea was to give them space to write about the hurt they couldn’t share. The Brookline, Mass., 16-year-old received posts about drug use and suicide. But a majority wrote about sexual violence. “Every time I’ve tried, my throat feels like it’s closing, my lungs forget how to breathe,” wrote one anonymous poster. “I was sexually assaulted.” These expressions of inner crisis are just a glint of the startling data reported by federal researchers this week. Nearly 1 in 3 high school girls said they had considered suicide, a 60 percent rise in the past decade. Nearly 15 percent had been forced to have sex. About 6 in 10 girls were so persistently sad or hopeless they stopped regular activities. The new report represents nothing short of a crisis in American girlhood. The findings have ramifications for a generation of young women who have endured an extraordinary level of sadness and sexual violence — and present uncharted territory for the health advocates, teachers, counselors and parents who are trying to help them. The data comes from the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from a nationally representative sample of students in public and private high schools. “America’s teen girls are engulfed in a growing wave of sadness, violence and trauma,” the CDC said. … Now a 17-year-old junior at a public high school in Potomac, Md., Zuba relies on therapy, medication, exercise and coping strategies. She started a mental health club at her high school to support classmates also struggling with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. At the lowest point of her depression, she said, she kept many secrets from her friends, parents and teachers because she felt stuck in her role: a cheerful high achiever who had it all together. “My mom’s like my best friend, and there’s no way she would have ever expected it,” Zuba said. “Teens are really good at hiding it, which is really sad. |
Anonymous
+1 me too, and my husband. |
Anonymous
Half my friend group as teens were severely depressed and engaged in self-harm. I’ve had intermittent periods of it into adulthood (likely genetic in my case) |
Anonymous
| Mothers of daughters, step on up. You are failing your daughters |
Anonymous
| I’m 30 and this does not surprise me in the least. I remember hoping as early as in high school that I would never have a daughter. The pressure on girls is immense, much more so than boys. |
Anonymous
Wrong, there was social media bullying going on during covid school closures between kids who hadn’t seen each other in months. |
Anonymous
Fathers of daughters, feel free to join in. And, hey, while we’re at it, both mothers and fathers of sons, plenty for you to do here, too. |
Anonymous
10000% THIS. Yes, social media is toxic. But a sexual assault is what made my DD suicidal. And the pandemic shut down so many avenues to help. And I’m fighting like crazy to keep her moving forward. And she’s FAR from alone. And parents often don’t know. |
Anonymous
Are you kidding me? You know who the most clueless, dismissive person in my daugter's life is? Her father. The joy she feels with just the slightest bit of attention from him is pathetic. If men stood up and actually parented now and again, that could go a long way. You are a horrific person, and sadly, probably a woman. |
Anonymous
I’m 40 and didn’t feel this way at all. I would never want to be a man. |
Anonymous
Also, being part of the solution requires understanding and acknowledging how factors specific to teens' pandemic experience harmed mental health. One thing that is contributing to poor mental health in teens of both genders is denying that teens lost experience that are essential to their development and pretending that everything was suddenly just fine when pandemic restrictions were removed. |
Anonymous
Yes, teens are constantly invalidated. And adults are assuming that they understand the realities teens face now because “it’s not any different than when I was a teen”. It’s VERY different. If you are saying these invalidating things instead of listening, your teen isn’t going to tell you anything. |
Anonymous
I’m 49 and have a teen DD and a teen DS, and I agree with the 30 year old PP 100%. |
Anonymous
This is so true |