Sharp increase in U.S. teen girls considering suicide, new CDC report says

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is highlighting alarming trends for teenage girls across the country.

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The study found that 57-percent of them felt a persistent feeling of sadness or hopelessness in 2021, far outpacing the results for young boys.

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The new data raises serious questions about what’s being done to address mental health in America, specifically for teenage girls.

The study also revealed a nearly 60-percent increase in the number of young females who seriously considered attempting suicide- almost one out of every three.

Some have recently testified before members of congress, saying the problem is real.

“Schools and communities only intervene when it becomes intensely severe, or in unfortunate cases, too late,” High School Senior Brooklyn Williams said in front of a Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families hearing in 2022.

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CDC officials say youth mental health has only gotten worse in this country. The report also found one in five, or up to 20-percent of girls also experience some form of sexual violence.

Lawmakers continue to point to resources as being the major barrier to helping address mental health in the United States. They say the time to act is long overdue.

“To reach every student, we need all hands on deck, and that means more mental health professionals,” Democrat from Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey said.

“Three years of COVID have just had their toll upon the mental health of adolescents and college students,” Louisiana Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy added.

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The CDC also looked at teens who identify as LGBTQ. It found more than half had recently experienced poor mental health and more than one in five had attempted suicide in the past year.

The CDC says it’s looking to schools to lead change. They want administrators to use the new data to help find more resources to handle mental health problems in high schools.

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