For a live in-studio interview, Dr. Ken Duckworth, chief medical officer of NAMI, spoke about the pandemic’s impact on teen mental health. “If you think about the teen years, socializing and finding your identity are the core developmental. Due to the pandemic, isolation and not feeling safe in the world has made it much harder for teens to cope. As a result, we’re seeing substantially higher rates of depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. There's still a lot of shame but these are ordinary, common, treatable conditions. We just have to move past this idea that people have to suffer in silence. Some signs for parents to look for are loss of interest in friends, sleep changes, changes in grades, irritability and anger which can be a sign of depression. If your teen is struggling try to speak openly about how they’re feeling and maybe start with your pediatrician.
