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Teen Girls Mental Health

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. “We are so strong and we go through so, so much,” says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she “deserved to be raped.”

Erin Hooley

Teen Girls Mental Health

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. “We are so strong and we go through so, so much,” says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she “deserved to be raped.”

Erin Hooley

What’s driving the U.S. teen mental health crisis and how adults can help

A youth mental health crisis has been brewing long before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Chicago experts weigh in on the biggest factors.

Amelia, 16, sits for a portrait in a park near her home in Illinois on Friday, March 24, 2023. “We are so strong and we go through so, so much,” says the teenage girl who loves to sing and wants to be a surgeon. Amelia has also faced bullying, toxic friendships, and menacing threats from a boy at school who said she “deserved to be raped.”

Erin Hooley

   

Health experts are raising the alarm on rising rates of depression, suicide and other mental health issues among U.S. teens. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, youth between the ages of 10 to 25 years make up 15% of all suicides.

Reset discusses why the teen mental health crisis is happening, the role social media plays and how Chicago-area organizations are working to address the problem.

GUESTS: Dr. Sonya Dinizulu, clinical psychologist at the University of Chicago Medicine Comer Children’s Hospital

Dr. Tali Raviv, clinical psychologist and associate director for the Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children’s Hospital

Devorah Heitner, author of Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World and Growing Up in Public: Coming of Age in a Digital World

Sam Savin, youth clinical social worker with JCC Chicago

Mitchell Sandy, licensed clinical psychologist and vice president of clinical operations and youth services at Thresholds

If you or a loved one you know is struggling with their mental health, here are a couple resources:

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