Youth Mental Health—Current Priorities of the U.S. Surgeon General

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Surgeon General of the United States
Key takeaways from the
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Mental health is an essential part of overall health
Mental health conditions are real, common, and treatable. People experiencing mental health challenges deserve support, compassion, and care—not stigma and shame.
COVID-19 added to pre-existing challenges that youth faced
Since the pandemic began, rates of psychological distress among young people have increased. The pandemic is most heavily affecting those who were already vulnerable. This includes youth with disabilities, racial and ethnic minorities, LBGTQ+ youth, and other marginalized communities.
Mental health is shaped by a combination of factors
Mental health conditions can be shaped by biological factors, including genes and brain chemistry and environmental factors, including life experiences. View this graphic for more information .
Focusing on youth mental health now is critical
We all have a role to play in supporting the mental health of children and youth. Continue reading this page for actionable steps we can take today.
Youth Mental Health Q&A with Dr. Vivek Murthy
What are the impacts of mental health on physical health?
Our mental health and physical health are closely connected—they speak to each other and work in harmony. Poor mental health can affect your physical health in various ways. It can disrupt your ability to think clearly, make healthy decisions, and fight off chronic diseases. Neglecting your mental health can lead to severe health conditions such as heart disease and high blood pressure. That’s why it’s important to take care of your body and mind. Try to stick to a schedule, eat well, stay active, get quality sleep, stay hydrated, and spend time outside. Don’t be afraid to ask for help by talking to a doctor, nurse, or other professional or looking into other available resources in your community.
How do I determine what’s causing my child’s mental health struggles?
Many biological and environmental factors can impact a child’s mental health and wellbeing. You can gain a better understanding of what may be affecting your child by having open and honest conversations with them. Ask questions and encourage your child to share how they feel. Listening to your child instead of reacting can help them open up and work through their feelings. You can also model this by talking about your own emotions and problem-solving strategies. Remember to use language that’s age-appropriate for your child.
How often should I check in with my child about their mental health?
When it comes to our children’s mental health, we can’t see their internal states. So, it’s important to check in regularly with them to help you recognize when they need extra support. If you notice concerning changes in your child, let them know you’re there and ready to support them however they need. Don’t be afraid to ask for help by talking to a doctor, nurse, or other professional or looking into other available resources in your community. For example, schools often have counseling services and accommodations.
What are some warning signs of mental distress in young people?
Changes in mental health and signs of distress in young people can show up in many ways. Some examples of mood changes are irritability, anger, and withdrawal. Other signs can be changes in their thoughts, appearance, performance at school, and sleeping or eating patterns.
As an educator or school-based health professional, how can I work with my students’ families to address mental health?
Adults in a school environment may be the first to notice changes in a student’s attendance, behavior, and achievement. Good communication between home and school can be the first defense in identifying when intervention is needed. Start by building positive relationships and having productive conversations with your students’ families. Come from a place of empathy and compassion, and keep the focus on working together to connect families with the best possible resources to help the student.
How do I evaluate the impact that technology has on my child?
There can be benefits to certain online activities such as connecting with friends and family and accessing telehealth and other resources. But, technology can also expose children to negative online experiences—like bullying, finding harmful information, and negatively comparing themselves to others. Although it’s not realistic or fair for you to carry the burden of controlling everything your child sees online, there are ways you can support your child in having healthier online experiences. Having open conversations with your children is a great place to start. On page 18 of the Advisory, we provide a list of questions you can consider when it comes to your child’s use of technology. Some questions include:
How much time is my child spending online? Is it taking away from healthy offline activities, such as exercising, seeing friends, reading, and sleeping?
Is my child getting something meaningful and constructive out of content they are looking at, creating, or sharing? How do I know?
How does my child feel about the time they spend online? Can I check in with them about this?
How can we take action?
Maintaining healthy children and families requires all of society—including policy, institutional, and individual changes in how we view and prioritize mental health.
Ways to act based on your role
Young people
Create positive, safe, and affirming school environments.
Expand social and emotional learning programs and other evidence-based approaches that promote healthy development.
Learn how to recognize signs of changes in mental and physical health among students, including trauma and behavior changes. Take appropriate action when needed.
Provide a continuum of supports to meet student mental health needs, including evidence-based prevention practices and trauma-informed, culturally responsive mental health care.
Expand the school-based mental health workforce and support the mental health of all school personnel.
Protect and prioritize students with higher needs and those at higher risk of mental health challenges.
What health care professionals can do:
Recognize that the best treatment is prevention of mental health challenges. Implement trauma-informed care (TIC) principles and other prevention strategies to improve care for all youth, especially those with a history of adversity.
Routinely screen children for mental health challenges and risk factors, including adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).
Identify and address the mental health needs of parents, caregivers, and other family members.
Combine the efforts of clinical staff with those of trusted community partners and child-serving systems (e.g., child welfare, juvenile justice).
Build multidisciplinary teams to implement services that are tailored to the needs of children and their families.
What journalists and media can do:
Recognize the impact media coverage of negative events can have on the public’s mental health.
Normalize stories about mental health and mental illness across all forms of media. Take care to avoid harmful stereotypes, promote scientifically accurate information, and include stories of help, hope, and healing.
Whenever depicting suicide or suicidal ideation, adhere to best practices such as the National Recommendations for Depicting Suicide.
What social media and video game companies can do:
Prioritize user health and well-being at all stages of product development.
Be transparent and allow for independent researchers and the public to study the impact of company products on user health and well-being.
Build user-friendly tools that help children and adolescents engage online in healthy ways.
Promote equitable access to technology that supports the well-being of children and youth.
What community organizations can do:
Educate the public about the importance of mental health. Work to reduce negative stereotypes, bias, and stigma around mental illness.
Implement evidence-based programs that promote healthy development, support children, youth, and their families, and increase their resilience.
Ensure that programs rigorously evaluate mental health-related outcomes.
Address the unique mental health needs of at-risk youth, such as racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ youth, foster youth, youth in the juvenile justice system, and youth with disabilities.
Elevate the voices of children, young people, and their families.
What funders can do:
Create sustained investments in equitable prevention, promotion, and early intervention.
Incentivize coordination across grantees and foster cross-sector partnerships to maximize reach and bringtogether a diversity of expertise.
Scale up evidence-based interventions, technologies, and services.
Invest in innovative approaches and research on mental health.
Elevate and amplify the voices of youth and families in all stages of funding and evaluation.
What employers can do:
Provide access to comprehensive, affordable, and age-appropriate mental health care for all employees and their families, including dependent children.
Implement policies that address underlying drivers of employee mental health challenges, including both home and workplace stressors.
Create a workplace culture that affirms the importance of the mental health and wellbeing of all employees and their families.
Regularly assess employees’ sense of wellbeing within the workplace.
What governments can do:
Address the economic and social barriers that contribute to poor mental health for young people, families, and caregivers.
Take action to ensure safe experiences online for children and young people.
Ensure all children and youth have comprehensive and affordable coverage for mental health care.
Support integration of screening and treatment into primary care.
Provide resources and technical assistance to strengthen school-based mental health programs.
Expand the use of telehealth for mental health challenges.
Where additional research is needed:
Improve mental health data collection and integration to understand youth mental health needs, trends, services, and evidence-based interventions.
Increase investments in basic, clinical, and health services research to identify treatment targets for mental health conditions and develop innovative, scalable therapies.
Prioritize data and research with at-risk youth populations, such as racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minority youth, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, youth with disabilities, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and other groups.
Advance dissemination and implementation science to scale up and improve compliance with evidence-based mental health practices in systems that serve children, youth, and their families.
Conduct research to expand understanding of social media and digital technology’s impact on youth mental health and identify opportunities for intervention.
Ways to act based on your role
Young people
What funders can do:
Create sustained investments in equitable prevention, promotion, and early intervention.
Incentivize coordination across grantees and foster cross-sector partnerships to maximize reach and bringtogether a diversity of expertise.
Scale up evidence-based interventions, technologies, and services.
Invest in innovative approaches and research on mental health.
Elevate and amplify the voices of youth and families in all stages of funding and evaluation.
Employers
What employers can do:
Provide access to comprehensive, affordable, and age-appropriate mental health care for all employees and their families, including dependent children.
Implement policies that address underlying drivers of employee mental health challenges, including both home and workplace stressors.
Create a workplace culture that affirms the importance of the mental health and wellbeing of all employees and their families.
Regularly assess employees’ sense of wellbeing within the workplace.
Governments
What governments can do:
Address the economic and social barriers that contribute to poor mental health for young people, families, and caregivers.
Take action to ensure safe experiences online for children and young people.
Ensure all children and youth have comprehensive and affordable coverage for mental health care.
Support integration of screening and treatment into primary care.
Provide resources and technical assistance to strengthen school-based mental health programs.
Expand the use of telehealth for mental health challenges.
Additional research needed
Where additional research is needed:
Improve mental health data collection and integration to understand youth mental health needs, trends, services, and evidence-based interventions.
Increase investments in basic, clinical, and health services research to identify treatment targets for mental health conditions and develop innovative, scalable therapies.
Prioritize data and research with at-risk youth populations, such as racial, ethnic, and sexual and gender minority youth, individuals from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, youth with disabilities, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and other groups.
Advance dissemination and implementation science to scale up and improve compliance with evidence-based mental health practices in systems that serve children, youth, and their families.
Conduct research to expand understanding of social media and digital technology’s impact on youth mental health and identify opportunities for intervention.
Spread the word with these shareable tools
How Right Now (CDC)
toolkit
How Right Now is a communications campaign (by the CDC and CDC Foundation) that provides resources for coping with negative emotions and stress, talking to loved ones, and finding inspiration.
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Supporting Emotional Well-being in Children & Youth (National Academies of Medicine)
toolkit
This is a list of tools for children, teens, and parents to learn how to cope with challenges.
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Play2Prevent (Yale Center for Health & Learning Games)
toolkit
Play2Prevent is a repository for evidence-based video game interventions and educational materials geared toward risk prevention, health and wellness promotion, and social intelligence in children, teens and young adults.
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FindTreatment.gov (SAMHSA)
directory
Find information on thousands of state-licensed providers who specialize in treating substance use disorders, addiction, and mental illness.
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