Young People's Mental Health Issues Skyrocketed Over The Last Decade, Study Finds

Today's young people experience drastically more mental health issues than they did in the past decade, according to a new study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology. In particular, the study showed a significant spike in psychological distress, major depression and suicidal ideation among Americans aged 12 to 25 after 2011.

Jean Twenge, Ph.D., author of iGen and San Diego State University psychology professor, led the team of researchers, who started their study by looking at survey responses from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health, a nationally representative survey that's been tracking drug use, alcohol use, mental health, and other health metrics since 1971. Dr. Twenge and her team focused on data from 200,000 teens between ages 12 and 17, collected between 2005 and 2017. They then compared that data with metrics from a group of 400,000 young adults aged 18 and older.

The researchers found two important things. First, the number of teens who reported major depression increased by 52 percent over the past 12 years. In 2005, only 8.7 percent of these kids reported being depressed. By 2017, 13.2 percent of them were reporting depression. Twenge also found the same to be true for reports of psychological distress and suicidal thoughts within that age group.

Second, she found that young adults ages 18 to 25 showed an even bigger spike in mental health issues: The rate of young adults reporting major depression jumped 63 percent between 2009 and 2017, and the rate of young adults reporting serious psychological distress jumped a whopping 71 percent between 2008 to 2017.

Because the worst rate of mental issues happened in 2011, Dr. Twenge says the change probably doesn't have anything to do with economics or even genetics. Instead, she believes the problems we're seeing must be tied to cultural changes. In particular, she says it's likely that young adults born from the early 1980s to the late 1990s are experiencing more mental health struggles because of the ways they use electronic communication and digital media tools to connect with one another. We know from previous research1 that when we limit face-to-face social interactions, human beings experience an increased risk for developing depression. Social media has also been proven to cause depression.

Dr. Twenge also had another theory: Young people don't sleep as much as they did in previous generations, possibly because of excessive screen use. Lack of sleep has been tied to increased depression in previous studies.

If you're experiencing high levels of psychological distress, you should reach out to a medical provider to make a game plan. And even if you're not experiencing distress, Dr. Twenge believes we should look at the ways in which we spend our leisure time to protect ourselves from future risk of developing mental health issues.

Yes, part of this involves trying to use your phone less (it's easier than you think!) and keeping it out of your bedroom. Part of it involves getting serious about your sleep schedule and prioritizing getting your eight hours a night. But perhaps the biggest part? Make sure that you and the people around you aren't choosing digital media interactions over face-to-face social interactions. In some places like the U.K., doctors prescribe social connection as a treatment for depression and anxiety.