A former colleague of mine with whom I worked in Alaska asked me about the kind of teen issues I typically run into now that I live in Boise. I told her anxiety, anxiety and more anxiety! I also told her depression, depression and more depression! It perplexed me since a presenting problem of anxiety in Alaska was uncommon. I struggled to make sense of the differences until I picked up the October 27, 2016 copy of Time magazine to learn that teen anxiety and depression have been on the rise since 2012.   If you are the parent of a teen, it is a must read as it outlines in great detail the pressures today’s adolescents are under.

Let me first say a little about depression. I remember a professor in graduate school stating that anxiety and depression go hand-in-hand. It makes sense if you consider that excessive anxiety often leads to catastrophic thinking or as the professor said, “digging a deep pessimistic hole for yourself.” Indeed when listening to an anxious teen, their thoughts are striking. It is not uncommon to learn that the fear of doing poorly on a test is followed by worries about their GPA, concerns about whether they will be good enough to be accepted into college, and finally, by serious concerns around jobs and careers ie: “if I don’t get into college, how will I be able to support myself.” And I am not only talking about seniors preparing to graduate. These thoughts just as easily may come from a freshman in high school. All triggered by a typical classroom test that most of us took for granted when we were young.

Here are some of the alarming statistics reported in the Time article based on data collected in 2015 by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Health and Human Services:

1) 6.3 million adolescents (30% of girls and 20% of boys) ages 13-18 have had an anxiety disorder.

2) More than 2 million adolescents report experiencing depression that impairs their daily functioning.

3) Boy’s are more likely to be anxious than depressed (20.3% have had an anxiety disorder compared to 5.8% having a depressive disorder).

4) Girls are more likely to experience depression (19.5% for females compared to 5.8% for males).

5) Only about 20% of young people with a diagnosable anxiety disorder receive treatment.

So what is behind these statistics and why are anxiety and depression in high school kids on the rise since 2012? Teens are inherently reactive and emotional and therefore the biggest variable between generations is the climate in which we are raised. Adolescents today are the post 9/11 generation and have always had to contend with the threat of terrorism, school shootings or economic fears. Whereas in my generation the dream of backpacking through Europe was the norm, today’s teens are more likely to stay at home and heed State Department warnings about travel abroad. Approximately two-thirds of U.S. school districts now conduct “active shooter” exercises (according to the FBI, there were over 25 school shootings in U.S. between the years 2000 and 2013). Today’s teens also witnessed first-hand their parents’ stress as they weathered the severe recession of 2007 -2009.

There is also the intense pressure to succeed. While we may initially point to parents as the source of such pressure, a teen I know explained it another way. He stated that the pressure to succeed is palpable. In the hallways at school, ever-present in casual social settings, all over social media and as he concludes, “in every breath we take.” Grades, extra-curricular activities and standardized tests are interwoven with regular mailings teens begin to receive once they enter high school from the likes of colleges, SAT prep classes, scholarship programs and financial aid services. Parents are also caught in this whirlwind of pressure and due to the availability of up to the moment progress reports online, they are able and frequently do remind their children daily of grades, homework and missing assignments. Whereas we could leave school at school at the end of the day and over the weekend, today’s teens can never escape the pressure to perform.

The last point which demands attention is the role of social media as it pertains to rising teen angst. It is pertinent because teens are the heaviest users of social networking sites. Common Sense Media reports that 75% of teens have profiles on social networking sites. While there are well-known and accepted benefits from being part of these sites, the difficulty in self-regulating and the susceptibiity to peer pressure has given birth to concepts such as Facebook depression, sexting, cyberbullying and internet addiction. Not to mention the impact on teen sleep patterns. One teen told me that he struggled in college because of constantly being aware of what he was missing out on socially. At any moment he knew exactly where his friends were and what they were doing. The allure for this young man was too great.

Next month we will look at what parents can do to help as well as strategies teens can use to combat anxiety and depression.