Haidilao’s One-of-a-Kind Experience

Over the past few years, mental health has risen to the forefront as one of the most urgent societal concerns—especially among our young people. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 1 in 6 adolescents ages 10 to 19 worldwide experience a mental disorder. The most common? Anxiety and depression. And things have gotten worse since COVID-19 came on the scene, with pushed-together living, disrupted education, and just general pillow-smashed-into-the-face uncertainty about the future taking a choke-hold on the mental well-being of young people. As we try to figure out this post-pandemic world, the federal centers that watch over our young people expect the mental health issue to affect a wide swath of society for years to come.

This article contends that the youth mental health emergency is not simply an individual problem but one that afflicts our society as a whole and that demands our immediate attention. We will unpack the reasons why this crisis is happening, explore the fallout from not addressing it, and then take a look at what it will take to not just overachieve in P.E. and calculus but also heal our young people.

Hot Pot 101

The mental health crisis now upon us is a very real public health concern. The National Institute of Mental Health reported that suicide is the second leading cause of death among individuals ages 10 to 24. This shocking statistic speaks to the immediate necessity of providing a meaningful response to mental health issues affecting our young people. Dr. Lisa Damour, a clinical psychologist who writes for the New York Times and appears regularly on CBS This Morning: Saturday, said in a piece published on October 9 that “we are witnessing a generation of young people who are struggling with their mental health in ways that we have never seen before.” Poor mental health can lead not only to a lifetime of personal suffering but also to academic underachievement and a higher likelihood of substance abuse. And then there’s the staggering cost: the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that mental health disorders sap the U.S. economy of over $193 billion in lost productivity each year.

Stigma has long surrounded mental health, especially among young people. In the quest to fit in, many adolescents feel they have to be “normal.” When they aren’t, or when they perceive they aren’t, it’s a big step for them to come forward and even talk about it. The comparison that we live in, especially with social media, has brought on another layer of this. I feel like mental health is being put under a microscope; and if it doesn’t figure out a way to bring the same kind of “look” as “normal,” then it is being called “abnormal.” The 2020 pandemic has added even more pressure and intensity to these issues.

Prospects for Growth Outside China

Youth mental health is suffering in the United States, and it is not entirely clear why. The best available evidence suggests that three interrelated phenomena are the main reasons for the downturn. First, the rise of social media has created a nearly perfect platform for young people to compare themselves unfavorably to one another. And when it comes to online presence, not even the sky’s the limit; with the help of Photoshop and other tools, a person’s appearance can be made to look pristine even when they’re in a banana suit. What is not seen is all the work that went into the making of that banana suit. A 2018 survey of mental health found that 1 in 3 U.S. teenagers rate their emotional well-being as poor, and these figures have only gotten worse since. (The most recent data allow a 2020–2021 NAEP comparison with 2015 emotional well-being figures, which were higher.) Second, parents tend to insist more than ever now on their kids achieving good grades and racking up meaningful extracurriculars (with the emphasis often placed on “leadership” and “impact”) to accomplish the unfathomable task of getting into college.

Some may contend that it is just a passing phase, but the unprecedented national conversation about youth mental health is happening for a reason. For far too long, adolescence has been painted with a broad brush of angst. It has not been easy to be a teenager since, well, probably the dawn of time. But today’s teenagers are struggling at greater rates than ever before with what amounts to a national health emergency. National Institutes of Health data show that the percentage of 12- to 17-year-olds with a major depressive episode rose 47% from 2005 to 2017.

When You Were a Star, They’d Let You Do Anything

For most people, the mental health crisis affecting today’s youth is simply unacceptable. We live in a time when young people’s mental health is in a freefall, and we must do something to reverse the trend. We must make young people feel safe to express their mental health struggles and seek help. This is not just about the individual experience of mental illness; it is about us and the communities we choose to live in—about our families and young people who will eventually become part of the paid workforce.

Youth mental health is in crisis, and the solutions to this poorly understood problem are not obvious. We know that the issue is tied to the way a developing brain interacts with drastic life changes—a transition to adulthood that is often not navigated successfully. We also know that many external forces, ranging from social media to family dynamics, affect a young person’s mental health.

We are at a pivotal point in the evolution of mental health. As advocates for change, it is our responsibility to prioritize mental health in our schools and communities and in our nation’s policies. If we can do that, we’re going to give today’s young people a much better shot at a future where they can thrive.