The Kids Are Not OK
Depression rates among adolescents keep rising, especially in girls. Schools can help identify the problem and provide resources.
This article is part of a Wise & Well Special Report: The United States of Depression.
As I was arriving for my EMT shift one morning in 2009, a call came from one of the freshman dorms. The patient’s roommate had called and explained that the night before she took two Tylenol PM but this morning was not acting like herself. We rushed her to the hospital and then she was flown to a larger center. She died later that day from a likely overdose. It was her 18th birthday. Later we found out that she had a history of depression and suicide attempts.
As much as I had hoped this was a rare occurrence, the burden of depression among the nation’s youth has been worsening ever since. Among 12 to 17-year-olds from 2013–2019, 36.7% had persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness and 18.8% considered suicide. Every year from 2016 to 2019, an estimated 4.4 million youths (about 6% of the population under 18) were diagnosed with depression, according to the CDC.
The numbers were staggering before the pandemic and are still worsening as a result of it. But the fight against depression begins with identifying its existence.
