The Coming Teenage Pandemic
By : Lois M. Collins
Source : Deseret News
A mother finds a drawing of a tombstone among her son’s schoolwork. “Rest in Peace,” the caption reads. “Maybe I’d be better off dead.”
The boy is 10 years old.
In terror, she turns to marriage and family therapist Laurie Singer. That a child so young struggles with mental health is no surprise to Singer — or to teachers, other mental health experts, physicians or a troubling share of parents who see the cauldron of anxiety and depression boiling in America.
The crisis has bubbled for decades, and by 2019, one-third of high school students — half of females — reported feeling persistent sadness or hopelessness, a huge increase from 2009. The pandemic dumped grief and fear into the pot.