In the years leading up to 2020, researchers and advocates expressed growing concerns about a mental health crisis among young people in the United States. Alongside rising rates of depression and suicide, increased social media and technology use seemed like an obvious culprit at first—but the latest findings tell a more complex and nuanced story. Read more ›
Forty percent of young LGBTQ people have considered suicide in the last year; that rises to more than half for trans and non-binary youth.
That’s according to the second annual survey on LGBTQ youth mental health by The Trevor Project. The non-profit organization provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ people under the age of 25. Read more ›
Bullying is a behavior that many of us have experienced in school or online, either as the person being bullied, the person engaging in the behavior, or as a witness. While bullying is far from new, it should not be considered a rite of passage for young people. Read more ›
Bay Area mental health specialists and crisis line managers say they have seen an increasing number of calls or texts from distraught people seeking help. They worry the situation will grow worse with surges in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. Read more ›
LGBTQ students attending schools with gay-straight alliance programs in place reported experiencing less bullying and better health outcomes than their LGBTQ peers whose schools lacked such programs, according to a national survey. Read more ›
A third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, Census Bureau data shows, the most definitive and alarming sign yet of the psychological toll exacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Read more ›
Bullying was common among LGBTQ youth who died by suicide between 2003 and 2017, especially among younger children, researchers reported. Read more ›
Staying home and sheltering in place can be stressful for everyone. But for some college students who identify as LGBTQ, returning to family environments can be very difficult and even psychologically damaging, psychologists say. Read more ›
By seventh grade, Zachary Nimmo had meticulously mapped out his future to the tiniest detail — take every engineering course offered at Amador Valley High School in Pleasanton, attend Las Positas Community College for two years, transfer to Cal Poly to earn an engineering degree, then move to Seattle. His friends called him a hybrid — an excellent soccer and lacrosse athlete and a self-proclaimed geek — passionate about computers, coding and comic books. But something started to change in eighth grade, and his parents were concerned with his darkening behavior. Read more ›
Alec Murray was 13. He enjoyed camping, fishing and skiing. At home, it was video games, movies and books. Having just completed middle school with “almost straight A’s,” those grades were going to earn him an iPhone for his upcoming birthday.
Instead, he killed himself on June 8 — the first day of summer break. Read more ›
