Dec 18, 2021 3 min read

If you have at least a couple of gray hairs, you’ve almost certainly fallen into the occasional nostalgic reverie for your younger days, when your energy seemed boundless and life seemed to hold a limitless array of possibilities.

And though it’s part of the human condition to clamp on rose-colored glasses when looking back at the past, the unfortunate reality of our times is that many of us really did have an easier time of it when we were coming of age than young people do now.

Sure, if you’re in your teens and 20s, you’re not facing existential crises along the lines of the Great Depression or World War II, or wondering if the planet is going to be incinerated at the push of a button in a Cold War standoff. But the world today is hardly tranquil. Just in the last couple of years, young people have witnessed two presidential impeachments, the national reckoning over the killings of Black Americans by police, school shootings, a democracy-rattling insurrection and a worldwide pandemic that has killed thousands upon thousands of people.

It’s no wonder then that U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued a report last week warning that young people are facing a mental health crisis. Though rates of anxiety and depression were increasing before 2020, the pandemic and its attendant isolation and uncertainties have pushed them even higher.

Similar warnings have come from other organizations, including the Children’s Hospital Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics. UNICEF also reported in the fall that mental health issues were plaguing young people across the globe, and that 13% of those between the ages of 10 and 19 had a diagnosed mental-health disorder.

According to Murthy, “Mental health challenges in children, adolescents and young adults are real, and they are widespread.”

To put it in perspective, if you are a junior in high school now, you have been dealing with COVID-19 since you were a freshman. While there is room for hope that treatments and vaccinations will make the disease endemic rather than pandemic, there is also reason to worry that the pandemic will drag on through next year, particularly if variants evade vaccines. That would mean COVID-19 would hang over almost the entire high school experience of the Class of 2023.

The coronavirus has brought loneliness and isolation across the spectrum, but it has been felt most acutely by young people who are building friendships and relationships. It’s also complicated the job searches for those who have completed their education.

Social media has been pinpointed for some of the blame, but that is not the whole problem. While researchers explore the reasons for the escalation of mental-health problems among young people, there are actions that can be taken in everyday life. Among many things, parents and guardians can be good role models, provide a stable home environment, encourage their children to develop healthy relationships with peers, and look for warning signs. And educators can expand the number of mental-health professionals on staff, try to create a positive and safe environment within schools and protect students who could be particularly at risk.

As Murthy explained, “It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place.”