Managing Stress
With Healthy Choices
In today's society, we've seen a significant rise in mental health conditions among young people.
“It was a feeling that started in my feet, came up my legs. Just a wave of grief. And it got up there and I just broke out sobbing out loud.”
The Stats
Approximately 1 in 5 youth aged 13–18 (21.4%) experiences a severe mental disorder at some point during their life. 1
Just over half (50.6%) of children aged 8-15 with a mental illness received mental health services in the previous year. 2
3.3 million people suffer from depression while 40 million suffer from anxiety. 3
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide, in the U.S. for ages 15 to 44.4
4,600 lives are lost to suicide each year.5
Suicide is 2nd leading cause of death in people ages 15-24. Suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in youth ages 10-14.6
Suicide rates in girls 10-14 have tripled.7
26.2% of college students said anxiety affected their academic performance while 17.3% of college students said depression affected their academic performance.8
62% of college students said they had a feeling overwhelming anxiety at least once in the last 12 months.9
Sources
1. Serious Mental Illness (SMI) Among Adults. (n.d.). Retrieved October 23, 2015, from http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/serious-mentalillness-smi-among-us-adults.shtml
2. Use of Mental Health Services and Treatment Among Children. (n.d.). Retrieved January 16, 2015.
3. Kessler RC, Chiu WT, Demler O, Walters EE. Prevalence, severity, and comorbidity of twelve-month DSM-IV disorders in the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R). Archives of General Psychiatry, 2005 Jun;62(6):617-27. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics. Table
2: Annual Estimates of the Population by Selected Age Groups and Sex for the United States: April 1, 2000 to July 1, 2004 (NC-EST2004-02) Source: Population Division, U.S. Census Bureau Release Date: June 9, 2005.
5. CDC. Suicide Among Youth. September 2017-12-04.
6. “10 Leading Causes of Death By Age Group, United States, 2015” (2015). Retrieved June 1, 2017.
7. CDC. Curtin SC, Warner M, Hedegaard H. Increase in suicide in the United States, 1999–2014. NCHS data brief, no 241. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2016.
8. American College Health Association (ACHA). 2017 National College Health Assessment survey.
9. Ibid.
10. Jim Folk, Marilyn Folk, BScN. Last updated April 25, 2017.