The CDC’s Mental Report Confirms: People Need to See People
According to a new report from the CDC, COVID-19 had an alarming effect on adolescents in America. More than a third of high school students “reported they experienced poor mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic”—with 44 percent saying they “persistently felt sad or hopeless during the past year.”
“These data echo a cry for help,” said CDC Acting Principal Deputy Director Debra Houry in a statement.
We already knew that COVID, and the concomitant shutdowns, led to an uptick in mental health challenges (the number of adolescents reporting “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” is up 7 percent from 2019), but this new report sheds greater light on the reasons.