There is no doubt that mental health is vital, yet something many people struggle with. People with decreased mental health have been proven to be more prone to depression, substance abuse, bad decision-making, anxiety, mood swings, and many other issues. Mental health has always been an issue in our society and is luckily getting noticed that it is more prevalent now than 30 years ago. Mental health has steadily declined over the last decade. So what’s happened to make it this way? First comes the statistics. It has been stated that 45% of people have been reported as having a mental illness in 2023, compared to 2019, which was 31%. This data suggests that there has been a 14% increase in mental illness in just four years. Documents also allude that Gen-Z is most prone to struggle with mental health and mental illness. They are more likely to have negative emotions, including anxiety, stress, depression, and loneliness, as reported in a recent study. One of the most concerning pieces of evidence the study found is the fact that 11.5% of youth reported having severe major depression. The rising crisis is overly concerning because this means that kids are struggling every day with their mental health and even suicidal thoughts at times, in which we haven’t been there to support them properly. This raises suspicion of a possible mental health crisis soon.
The Kiser Family Foundation put a number to this supposed mental health crisis. They reported that 90% of Americans feel that our country is in a mental health crisis. These people would be correct for numerous reasons listed down below.
Something that majorly contributed to this crisis is the 2020 pandemic. Covid-19 caused mental health issues for individuals all over the world. Most notable would be the lack of social interaction and daily routine. Being locked up in a house away from loved ones would no doubt decline anyone’s mental health. The JAMA Health Forum stated that 38% more people are in mental health care compared to the time before the pandemic. The White House noted at the beginning of 2023 that “Our nation is facing a mental health crisis among people of all ages, and the COVID-19 pandemic has only made these problems worse”.
There has also been an increase in substance abuse since the pandemic. It has been noted that drug overdose and substance abuse increased mainly for adolescents, additionally with more of an increase in young males. From 2018 to 2022, drug overdose and death rates due to abuse of materials have almost doubled—precisely from 1.1 to 3.0 per 100,000 males. For females, it went from 1.0 to 2.5 per 100,000. Furthermore, this dilemma also affects many adults. It has been reported that two-thirds of adults have been addicted to substances or had a family member affected by an addiction; this includes painkillers, illegal drugs, and alcohol. However, this is not the only reason for the national mental health crisis.
Another contribution is social media. Social media use creates many unnecessary issues and concerns when it comes to the mental health of users. Social media causes people to compare themselves online, leading to people setting unrealistic standards for themselves and feeling even worse about their identity. This causes countless negative emotions to arise.
Another factor the media possesses is the problems that emerge when it comes to cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is only an issue because of how easy it is to degrade someone through a phone. Bullies can hide behind a screen, publicly degrade, and bring someone down. For example, this can look like someone posting a picture on social media and several others leaving harmful comments on someone’s post. Without a doubt, this can diminish one’s well-being. 37% of kids associate depression with cyberbullying, and 19% of kids say that they have had depressive or suicidal thoughts due to being negatively affected by cyberbullying. An article by The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law states, “The incidences of both cyberbullying and adolescent suicide are rising in the United States, with recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data showing that 14.9 percent of adolescents have been cyberbullied and 13.6 percent of adolescents have made a serious suicide attempt” (Cyberbullying and Adolescent Suicide). No matter how many controls that social media apps utilize to prevent this very event from happening, there will still be cyberbullies that affect the lives of users.
In conclusion, America is in a mental health crisis. Hopefully, this predicament will improve in the years to come. As a society, everyone must help friends in need who are struggling with this very problem. It is essential to be informed about mental health and the state of our country when it comes to nationwide health. If our society does not improve in this category, it will become more and more of an issue that can’t be resolved. Resolve it before it is too late.
