revealed survey Conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, conducted between 2011 and 2021, and its results were published last February, indicating that there is an increase in the percentage of adolescent girls who suffer from mental health problems such as sadness, despair, and lack of desire to live, in addition to actually attempting suicide.
Specifically, the study found that in 2021, 57% of high school girls experienced “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness,” compared to 36% in 2011, nearly double the percentage of males (29%) who reported these feelings in 2021. Even more serious than that 30% of the girls surveyed seriously considered suicide and 13% had already attempted suicide one or more times in 2021.
Commenting on these findings, CDC Chief Medical Officer Debra Houry-V Press Conference– that “teenage girls in America are mired in a growing wave of grief, violence and trauma.” and that over the past decade, adolescents — especially girls — have seen significant increases in their experiences of violence, poor mental health, violence, and risk of suicide.
According to the New York Times website (New York Times), the health risks of adolescence have undergone a major shift. Three decades ago, the biggest health threats to American teens weren’t anxiety, depression, suicide, self-harm, and other serious mental health disorders, as they are now, but more about drug use, alcohol, and more.
Also, according to the site, from 2001 to 2019, the suicide rate among American youth from 10 to 19 years of age jumped by 40%, and emergency room visits due to self-harm increased by 88%.
What are the reasons for increasing feelings of despair among girls?
The authors of the CDC study identified 3 reasons why girls feel more hopeless:
- The impact of the Covid-19 epidemic, as a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – conducted on 240 adolescent girls in 2021 – showed that 70% of girls greatly missed seeing people during the epidemic, compared to only 28% of boys who reported this feeling.
- Social media, which represents a major source of influence on the self-esteem and psychological well-being of girls.
- Preoccupation with future issues, researchers believe that all young people struggle with issues such as climate change and social unrest, because they ultimately represent their future.
The Conversation website offersThe Conversation) 5 strategies to help these adolescents to overcome their feelings of stress, depression and despair, which are as follows:
1- Focus on social support
Social and emotional communication is one of the most powerful weapons for coping with stress and grief. Studies have found strong links between a lack of parental and peer support and depression during adolescence. Social support enables adolescents to cope with social cruelty such as bullying. Support from friends also plays an important role, as it helps reduce the link between teens’ severe anxiety and suicidal thoughts.
2- Getting rid of competition around agility
The competition between girls about the body, appearance and social achievements has become one of the features of the era, after the spread of social media. But if girls learn from a young age to support each other, rather than compete, this will reduce the competition they face in adolescence.
3- Attention to mental capabilities
Excessive focus on appearance is not healthy and is closely linked to depression and anxiety, especially in women. Therefore, it is important to encourage young girls to value other qualities in themselves, such as intelligence, talents and their ability to do things. If they learn this at a young age, it will be a source of great satisfaction for them later in life.
4- Awareness of the impact of social media
Being aware of how social media affects feelings and mental health helps people to distance themselves from their heavy interactions on social media. Parents should discuss with their teenage daughters how social media affects their feelings, self-image, and even body image.
5- Teaching children to recognize their feelings
Parents should teach their children how to recognize the feelings they are going through, whether they are anger, stress or depression. Recognizing what these feelings are is not easy, and if the child knows that, he will be able to overcome and resist them with time.