The advisory calls for a broad-based and rapid response from government, social media companies, community groups, schools, teachers, parents and even students -and listed resources available to them. “Advisories are reserved for significant public health challenges that need the nation’s immediate awareness and action,” the document says. If you’re looking for help, here’s a list of resourcesĪ surgeon general’s advisory is a public statement intended to focus national attention to an urgent public health issue and provide recommendations for how it should be addressed. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected nearly everyone’s mental health. If you need mental health help, reach out. But most importantly, they are treatable, and often preventable.” “Mental health challenges in children, adolescents, and young adults are real, and they are widespread. “It would be a tragedy if we beat back one public health crisis only to allow another to grow in its place,” Murthy wrote in a preface to the advisory. There also appear to be increases in negative emotions or behaviors such as impulsivity and irritability - associated with conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder or ADHD.Īnd, in early 2021, emergency department visits in the United States for suspected suicide attempts were 51% higher for adolescent girls and 4% higher for adolescent boys compared to the same time period in early 2019, according to research cited in the advisory. Symptoms of depression and anxiety have doubled during the pandemic, with 25% of youth experiencing depressive symptoms and 20% experiencing anxiety symptoms, according to Murthy’s 53-page advisory. Murthy on Tuesday issued a public health advisory on the mental health challenges confronting youth, a rare warning and call to action to address what he called an emerging crisis exacerbated by pandemic hardships.
Citing mounting evidence of ongoing harm, U.S.