Los Angeles Times bestselling author Dr. Venus Nicolino, armed with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, is sounding the alarm about mental health disorders among American youth. These disorders in teenagers have soared in recent years. From 2007 to 2019, the percentage of adolescents who reported having a major depressive episode jumped 60%, according to the Pew Research Center.
Nicolino calls such compromised mental health among youths a crisis. She cites this harrowing data: Between 2016 and 2021, hospitalizations for mental issues increased by 84% for girls aged 12 to 15 and 83% for boys of the same age range.
"The most powerful nation on Earth is not stepping up to this emergency," Nicolino says. "Kids today face a tidal wave of new pressures and threats adults never had to deal with growing up. The technology producing those pressures also removes relationship structures that help children."
While the advent of the internet and technology seems to provide for youths' needs, it's an illusion, according to Nicolino. These children are living in isolation under the glare of screens. Like many doctors of clinical psychology who follow the data, she knows that social media can negatively impact youths' mental health.
Avid Social Media Use Isn't Mentally Healthy for Youths, According to Dr. Venus Nicolino and Studies
A 2023 study by neuroscientists at the University of North Carolina conducted successive brain scans of youths between the ages of 12 and 15. This age window encompasses rapid brain development.
The neuroscientists discovered that children who habitually check their social media accounts display a heightened sensitivity to social rewards from peers. This trajectory begins around age 12.
"Social media leads to infinite comparisons no one can withstand," Dr. Venus Nicolino says. "If she scrolls long enough, the most beautiful girl finds it easier to pick out her flaws. She compares herself to hundreds of other faces and bodies."
Some red flags of worsening mental health in teens and preteens can include withdrawing from social interactions, persistent sadness, and changes to eating habits, according to Nicolino.
"Moodiness in teens and preteens is expected, but if they are engaged at school, have friends, and regularly participate in family activities, those are good signs.
"Don't let red flags pile up or check to see what shade of red it is," she says. "We have to take action when we spot troubling signs. Parents and teachers have instincts; please use them."
And the U.S. doesn't have enough therapists or long-term mental health facilities to address the growing need.
"Most of our current mental health solutions are painfully slow and embarrassingly ineffective," Nicolino states.
Dr. Venus Nicolino Supports SoundMind, An EdTech Program That Gives Teens Support on the Go
Technologies that offer mental health therapy remotely are emerging, particularly in the wake of pandemic-fueled anxiety and depression. Such inventions are suddenly critically important. A meta-analysis published in JAMA Pediatrics found one in four adolescents globally are "experiencing clinically elevated depression symptoms," while one in five have clinically elevated anxiety symptoms.
Travis Chen and Brian Femminella attended the University of Southern California during the COVID-19 pandemic. They noticed a dearth of reliable mental health resources in the real world and felt technology needed to be improved in the area, too. In response, they created SoundMind and launched it in November 2021. Together with Dr. Venus Nicolino, they've created an educational technology and wellness program that delivers music therapy to ease users' trauma, depression, and anxiety.
"SoundMind offers mental health therapy to any young person anywhere," she says. "SoundMind can help young people get a little further down the road with every download. Often, an hour's worth of positive feelings produces hope, which can carry a person through the day."
In addition to using technological tools like SoundMind, children would benefit from taking a step back in time by regularly unplugging from the internet, tablets, and smartphones.
"If not, they absorb a nonstop feed of tragedy," Nicolino says. "They see highlight reels of doom based on news reports, then rehashed by reaction videos. Every problem in the world pops up on kids' social media feeds. The world's weight is in their faces and on their shoulders."
Never before in history have children been so plugged in. The swaths of time spent looking at screens results in less-healthy lifestyles, mentally and physically, which has been well documented. Screen breaks are necessary, especially in an era where terrorist attacks, natural disasters, and gory images of war are just a click away.
"Deadly events can make anyone feel unsafe," Nicolino says. "Unplugging can remind kids that goodness and safety also remain in the world."
