New CDC study finds a growing mental health crisis among teen girls

BOSTON - Teenage girls may be experiencing more sadness and violence in this country, according to new statistics.

The CDC has just released data showing nearly 3 in 5 teen girls felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021, double that of boys, and representing a nearly 60% increase over the prior decade.

Thirty percent of teen girls seriously considered suicide and nearly 18% experienced sexual violence, up 20% from 2017.

And as the mental health of youth in this country continues to deteriorate, mental health services are not meeting the demands, largely due to widespread shortages.

In fact, in a recent study of 28,000 children on Medicaid who had visited the emergency room between 2018 and 2019 for depression, anxiety, or self-harm, only about half received outpatient follow-up treatment within a month and about a quarter returned to the hospital within six months. 

Mental health resources: 

Your Life Your Voice
1-800-448-3000
(call, chat, and text)

Teen Line
1-800-266-7883
(call, text, email)

TrevorLifeline for LGBTQ youth
1-866-488-7386
(call, chat, and text) 

In:
• Mental Health

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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