Rebecca Coakley says her thoughts of suicide starting at age 12 stemmed from an extreme addiction to social media apps that started when she was just 10 years old. She is not alone. According to the “Youth Risk Behavior Survey Data and Trends Report” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, teen girls across the United States are experiencing extreme levels of hopelessness.
The report found that nearly 60% of female students experienced persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness in 2021, up significantly from a decade previously. And nearly 1 in 3 teenage girls seriously considered suicide, up about 60% from a decade before. Teens reporting feelings of sadness or hopelessness increased across all demographics during this decade.
Dana Czachorowski, senior director of the Children’s Mobile Response and Stabilization Services for Care Plus NJ said, “There are a lot of contributing factors involved; social media is definitely one. Children have access to more and more information. They are seeing people living these dream lives that they want to be living. Social media is like junk food for the brain. It’s given them a surge of dopamine that kids are looking for but it’s not sustaining them or enriching them in any way.”
Psychiatrist for CarePlus NJ Dr. Tanya Lewis said a child’s school environment can really impact their mental health.
