Charlotte Hung '28
Edited by Jennifer Xu '26
In 2024, one in seven children from age 10 to 19 are impacted by mental health conditions and behavioral disorders. While mental health awareness is far more prominent in the media than before, psychiatric and mental disorders are still prevalent within our society today. In fact, symptoms of anxiety and depression are both rising rapidly in the youth today, even doubling during the COVID pandemic. The stigma surrounding the topic often causes misinformation, and many mental health services remain unavailable, especially to adolescents. This article will discuss the importance of mental health awareness, especially for teenagers, and how it is affected by social media and the stigma surrounding it.
The Influence of Social Media
Social media is a useful and powerful tool to spread awareness about mental health, aiding people in sharing their experiences, providing access to information, and create safe spaces for teenagers to express themselves online. However, despite all these positives, studies indicate a link that correlates social media use with a higher rate of anxiety and depression in teenagers and even preadolescents today. Research from 2023 shows that the average teenager (between age 13 and 18) uses social media for around 4.8 hours a day, and spend over 7 hours on their screens a day.
Furthermore, much of the media we consume on a daily basis, ranging from books to TV shows, romanticize mental health issues and often abuse, depicting love as a cure instead of therapy. While awareness of these issues within the media is crucial for progress to be made regarding the topic, many movies, books, and content creators do not promote it in the right way. For example, the series Twilight has sold over 160 million books since 2022, and portrays a deeply insecure protagonist, Bella, who becomes stalked and isolated from her family and friends by a romanticized abuser, while her own mental health becomes worse and worse. This kind of content is often sold under the labels of romance, blurring the lines of healthy boundaries, which can negatively influence readers.
Stigma Surrounding Mental Health
The stigma, both cultural and not, surrounding mental health and seeking help from others can prevent young children and teenagers from getting the aid they need. Furthermore, the stigma around mental health, especially perpetrated by family members and guardians, can stem from a lack of education provided by even older generations. In fact, many people can remain trapped in the same cycles of fear and misinformation, believing that symptoms of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are signs of weakness. Traditional ideals and cultural values can often stand in the way of seeking support, often due to a lack of education on the topic, or misinterpreting symptoms as signs of laziness or stubbornness. This is especially true in some Asian and other traditional communities, with Asian Americans standing as the group least likely to seek help with mental health in the United States.
Other obstacles also stand in the way of individuals seeking mental support. Accessibility to mental health services is extremely important, especially with the misinformation and stigmas
existing both on and offline. For example, in Shanghai, there are only 1100 psychiatrists, but over 24 million people living in the city. These statistics draw attention to the ever-evident truth: this lack of access to mental health services means that struggling individuals cannot get the support they need, which can often lead to people suffering in silence, or turning to unhealthy coping methods such as self-harm.
The importance of accessible mental health services cannot be stressed enough—proper support in this matter very important to the wellbeing of the average teen. To achieve it, there are many obstacles in place, such as the seemingly never-ending stigma around the topic and the lack of information, or plentiful misinformation, in the media. Reducing misinformation, such as utilizing the media to portray mental health issues in a realistic and healthy manner, and taking steps to make support more accessible are both necessary for a brighter future regarding this topic. This topic is an important one—education and the breaking of stigmas concerning mental health can help individuals recognize their symptoms and seek help.
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