5 thoughts on “Increase in Youth Self Harm Rates

  1. I am glad to see the research about the connection of mental health decline in youth to increased smartphone usage. Having a younger sister, I have been able to witness first-hand how social media has caused her to grow up faster and conform to unrealistic standards. I think that this issue can also be connected to the generalized mental health crisis in America, we simply do not have an adequate mental health infrastructure in the US. I agree that we must work harder to educate children in school about this topic for their own protection.

  2. I think that this is a very important topic for discussion. I was aware that the reporting rate for self harm was higher for females than males, but I did not realize that “males may represent 35% of all self-injury cases”. I also think that it is quite unsettling that only 50% of people seek help. On a college campus, I think this issue is quite relevant and needs to be talked about more so people know that there is help available.

  3. I also did not learn about this problem in school. A lot of attention was given to mental health, but not to the issue of self-harm. I agree that there should be an increase in the number of resources available, not just for those that self-harm but to the general public as well. If the people who tend to seek help typically do so from friends or professionals, it would be good to have more of the general public prepared to help deal with this issue.

  4. True, it’s disheartening to see how hidden this data is, schools really don’t spend enough time working with both mental health and social media, especially given how present it is in our lives. Mental health is sometimes so “depressed”, for lack of a better term, in today’s conversations and society.

  5. This data is so incredibly impactful. I imagine that part of this increase in mental health problems and self-harm rates is due to increased awareness and acceptance of these issues — and thus increased reporting — but it is still concerning. Students need to be taught from a young age to understand not only what they may be experiencing, but also their peers.

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