United States: Increasing rates of loneliness coupled with anxiety and depression affect people throughout societies yet show their most disturbing effects on youths, suggest experts.
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As reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in 2023, it was discovered that about 60 percent of teen girls experienced persistent sadness and hopelessness in 2021.
The United States stands alone in containing this issue, and it is not North America’s only region experiencing it.
The Lancet Psychiatry published the Child to Adolescent Transition Study, which is the first extensive long-term research indicating that Melbourne, Australia, saw depression and anxiety reaching approximately two-thirds of its participants, Fox News reported.
What are the experts stating?
The Murdoch Research Children’s Institute (MCRI) in Melbourne determined that 64 percent of their study participants experienced three or more depressive or anxious episodes during their adolescence.
The research showed that girls presented elevated rates of long-term psychological symptoms (84 percent versus 61 percent among boys did so).
Scientists monitored the symptoms of 1,239 children through organized assessments from age eight until age 18 after enrolling them in 2012.
This research initiative represented the first comprehensive longitudinal assessment of anxiety and depression, which showed that both conditions intensified during times of school graduation due to major changes in a child’s support structure.
The expert, Dr. Susan M. Sawyer, renowned adolescent pediatrician, leader of the Centre for Adolescent Health at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia, and chair of Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne and the Royal Children’s Hospital, explained several revealing facts in an interview.
She pointed out that reported anxiety increases occur because people are more informed about mental health problems, Fox News reported.
“These days, there is greater mental health literacy, which leads to more reporting of symptoms,” she stated.
“And adolescents have a greater ability to recognize stress and emotional distress than we did and have the language for reporting it. The stigma is much less, which is healthy,” she continued.
Based on her perspective, Sawyer believes that 12 to 13-year-olds in the research showed more elevated anxiety and depression numbers because puberty impacts the children while they adjust to new educational facilities.
Furthermore, “girls are more likely than boys to be exploring their emotions at this age,” she noted.
“Adolescence is a time for figuring out how to gain emotional control,” Sawyer stated.
“It is a time for seeking mental health support. The ‘stiff upper lip’ approach of [older] generations was not healthy,” Sawyer continued.